Immovable Object
by Virgil Stein
Summary: When a super-powered serial killer's little brother disappears in Seattle, she sets out to bring him back by any means necessary. Set in Eclipse. Canon through Twilight, New Moon, and beginning of Eclipse. Canon pairings. Alternate Universe. Original Character. Rating for violence and language. Complete, sequel posted.
1. Waterworld

Disclaimer: Twilight and its sequels and characters are the property of Stephenie Meyer.

**-Chapter 1: Waterworld-**

You know that moment where something stops being novel and slips into the 'highly annoying and repetitive' column? I think that moment slipped by me a few days ago. I let the curtains of the cheap hotel room I'm staying in drop back into place and walk back over to the small table where my laptop is currently charging. Sighing, I step back until I feel the back of my legs touch the bed and plop down on it. What a week. And not in a good way. The pounding of the rain outside echoes throughout the room and I find myself wondering how on earth Seattle isn't completely submerged in water.

I reach into the front pocket of my pants and pull out my iPhone. No new voicemails, emails, texts, or missed calls. Not that I would have missed the phone vibrating in my pocket if I were to receive one, but it's been five days since my brother went missing and I'm extremely worried. Ryan's no pushover – and shit, he's probably one of the most dangerous people you'd ever meet – so being incommunicado this long in a city this _fucked_ is no good at all.

The thought of Seattle brings me back to the reason we're even here. You see, people like my brother and I don't have a home or a job and have no real connections outside of each other. We really can't, being who we are. _What_ we are. I pushed myself off the bed and walked into the very small bathroom. Ryan's phone was in pieces on the toilet lid airing out. I'd found it in an ally the morning after he failed to come back to the hotel room or call me. The rain had all but ruined the phone, but I was still able to track down the last place it was on and working on my computer.

I replay the last message on my phone I received from Ryan. We had split up to cover more ground that night.

_"Hey Emily, still nothing. I'm gonna' head back to the room pretty soon. It's pretty late and I'm getting tired. See you when you get back."_

And that was the last time I heard my brother's voice. He never came back to the hotel room and never called.

Turning to the side I glanced at myself in the mirror above the sink. I was wearing a black Aperture Science t-shirt with tan cargo pants. Poking out from my right hip was the handle of my knife – which I never went anywhere without. Physically, I was average looking; I looked about nineteen but was actually older and stood at a respectable five-foot-nine. My brown hair was currently in its semi-curly state, clinging to my back since I'd been outside recently and hadn't cared to dry it. My eyes were a very off color of brown. Not the deep, warm kind; the flat, I'm-not-quite-sure-if-your-eyes-are-hazel-or-brown kind. They were my mother's eyes – my brother's eyes. Below them were shallow dark circles that I've had for as long as I can remember; they contrasted with my pale skin. Simply put, I was not exactly a picture of excellent health.

Ryan looked a little like me. Enough to tell we were siblings. Beside the eyes we both had dark hair, only his was almost black and straight compared to my brown and curly. He wasn't quite as pale as me, and he had a large shoulder span. At first glance he looks like the football player type. Not super buff, per say, but definitely not as scrawny as I was. We both had a sarcastic sense of humor, but his personality wasn't quite as sadistic as mine was. He had one hell of a temper, though. And when he got mad he typically expressed himself through violence. That's not necessarily a bad thing, though. Violence was a part of our lives.

Shrugging, I grabbed the pieces of Ryan's phone – ruined for sure, I knew now – turned off the light in the bathroom and walked back to my laptop, setting the phone scraps on the table. I flipped open the lid and started browsing through the local news feeds. "Oh, wow," I said, reading over the latest deaths. Apparently there was a huge traffic accident late last night. Five people dead. Another article detailed the disappearing of another teenager – a boy of 16 named Cory. Apparently the car accident wasn't linked to the ridiculously huge killing spree going on in the city, or no one wanted to make the connection. It probably was though – I'd bet money on it. Anyone who can get the drop on my brother – or even a professional boxer, as was the case with another victim – could have the strength to stage a car accident.

If I was going to catch this person – or people, you never know – and figure out what happened to Ryan, I needed to put myself into the scenarios the previous victims were in. "So far all I know is that they are strong, cover their tracks well, and kill at night." It's nearly 11:30 by my computer's clock, so the night part is well and done, now all I need to do is find a place to plant myself. I opened up a new tab on my browser and checked a map of Seattle. The places the bodies were found – as well as the recent car 'accident,' for that matter – were all in relatively dead zones. Places with poor lighting, warehouses, riverfronts – places without witnesses late at night.

The spread was also interesting. A few nights, several of the deaths took place to the west and spread out toward the center; another few nights after that the same spread occurred on the north side. The next few cycles were from the south-east; and so on and so forth. They were moving around, and they probably resided outside of Seattle somewhere. A quick search of homes and apartments surrounding the city revealed another piece of the puzzle. Four house fires; buildings burned to the ground. All empty of their residents, but no deaths, so the police most probably didn't link these to the rampage going on in Seattle. Well, they got one thing right. Gang activity for sure. All the houses were large in size and had basements, perfect for housing a group of murderers.

I closed my laptop and went to the window. The parking lot lights were on, illuminating the light drizzle falling from the sky. Well, it's better than the torrent it was a few hours ago I guess. I grabbed my wallet – making sure the card-key was inside – and put it in the left side pocket of my pants and pulled on my jacket. Before I left I made sure I had everything. "Wallet, phone, knife," I muttered to myself, adjusting my jacket and zipping it up, "good." I opened the door of the hotel room and stepped into the damp darkness that is Seattle. I walked past the soda machine and into the side ally where no lights were pointing. I looked around a few times to make sure the coast was clear, yanked up my hood, and leaped up into the cold air high above the hotel rooftop before flying off to the north side of the city.


	2. Meet the Creeper

**-Chapter 2: Meet the Creeper-**

Being up above the buildings like this is always one of my favorite things to do. I can really only do it at night though, or away from any Normals. It may sound cliché or even a little obvious, but flying is very freeing. When I'm up here I can relax. No one can get me up here; I don't have to watch my back. Everything below me seems a bit smaller and disconnected from myself. There's no one but myself up here and I revel in it.

I don't really have an official name for what my brother and I are. Freaks, vigilantes, super heroes; all of these are applicable as long as we're using the term 'hero' loosely. We call ourselves meta-humans or Specials, and there are actually more of us out there in the world besides just us. I should know; I have a habit of killing them.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Ryan and I were born to our parents Marie and David Ambrose in a city in Missouri near St. Louis named Washington. I'm three-and-a-half years older than my brother, born in 1951, while he was born in 1955. We had a pretty regular childhood up until I was about eleven. I don't recall the first time he did it, but almost overnight my brother discovered he could move things by concentrating on them. Small things at first, like a leaf or a penny. It developed more as he used it. Ryan kept this power to himself for months before confiding in me. He was only a small child at the time, seven or eight years old, but even he knew moving books and pens around without touching them was not considered normal behavior.

I was jealous at first. Murderously jealous. My vision swam and was rocked by the intensity of the emotion I'd never felt this strongly before. I couldn't talk or look at him for a few days after his demonstration – lifting a chair off the ground, me sitting in it. He, of course, believed I thought him a freak. I abandoned him when he trusted me and I'll always feel a little shitty about my behavior back then toward him. During the few days of cooling off and not talking to my brother, I started to try to move things as well. Imagine my surprise when the dog house outside practically exploded after a few minutes of concentration. Granted, I was trying to lift the dog house, not obliterate it, but I was absolutely ecstatic regardless. My brother forgave me, of course, and our new abilities bonded us even closer than before. Our powers grew and we could crumple cars into scrap if we wanted – although we only tested this once. While Ryan was still learning how to focus his dexterity into his telekinesis – which was what we could do was called, we found out – in order to tie his shoes, I was already levitating myself off the ground.

At fifteen, everything changed. My mind was expanding beyond anything I was aware was possible. Logic, math, and chemistry came as easy as breathing. I suddenly understood everything I came into contact with. Television sets, automobiles, telephones; I could see how they worked – I could see their flaws and how to make them run better, smoother. Ryan had no such experiences. I hid my growing talents as best I could from my parents, but of course they found the textbooks on subjects that were deemed beyond me. They found my disassembled watches and radios. They were proud of me, I think, and sent me away from Ryan to a camp for gifted kids. How a stereotypical outdoor camp would help me grow was beyond even me, but I went to appease my parents. That was where my first kill happened.

_"Hi, I'm Lexi!" an excited girl greeted me as I entered the cabin where I would be staying. There wasn't much to describe. Two beds and with a window between. Apparently this was my roommate. Fantastic, she's chipper._

_"Emily," I replied. She was about my age, with light brown hair and a tan complexion._

_"Em-ily," Lexi repeated, "Emil-y. Emily. I like that. It's very smooth; sort of a silver or grey color."_

_No, she wasn't batshit insane, though that _was_ my first thought. She had a rare condition called Synesthesia. It linked her senses together so she could literally smell and taste the color blue or see sounds. I'll spare the details. The short of it is that I felt that obsessive jealousy come back and I accidentally snapped her neck throwing her into a tree with my powers. My ability, my need and obsession to understand, drove me to what I did to her next. I ripped her brain right out of her skull with a thought. And then I took it apart piece by piece, learning the structures of the organ and how everything connected and communicated. It may sound strange, but in that moment I knew peace._

_I came back to myself after a few minutes. Nobody had realized what had happened yet – thankfully. I dropped what was left of Lexi's brain and vomited. A lot. My big brain had no trouble figuring out I was going to be a suspect when her body was found. I was her roommate and a horrible liar who was the last to be seen with her. And so I took off on my own, leaving everything behind – even my family. As I ran from the body and away from the camp, I never even realized I was tasting the colors of the forest around me on my tong_ue. _There were more deaths on my hands during my late teen years._

I learned to control the _need_ later on by saturating myself with complex puzzles and projects. Biology and chemistry were my first endeavors. I was already familiar with the human brain and all its flaws, but I wanted to know _everything_ about the rest of the body. I was confident there were a few gaping holes I could fix; I was right. It was 1975 by the time I finished my first serum, HLV1. I had been tinkering with cell division and replication in the human body; specifically, how to stop the body from growing old.

You see, from all my research I could find not one directive or order or script written in the genetic code that said 'humans must age and die at this point in time.' It just didn't exist. The problem was we – I – was imperfect. My cells would start to die off faster than they could replicate as I grew older and older. They would become bogged down, withered, and corrupted like a fragmented disk. The serum I created – which worked like a retrovirus, rewriting my DNA – made my body faster and stronger than I'd ever been.

HLV2 was very much a sequel to the first. It cut regeneration time by twenty and vastly improved endurance, speed, and strength. It didn't make me Super-Man or anything – I couldn't leap entire buildings in a single bound or lift cars over my head. What it _did_ was help my body keep up with my mental abilities. It was more of a support system – a supplement – than a formula for super heroes.

A couple years after my breakthroughs, I tracked down my brother – who was still living in Missouri working at a grocery store, doing nothing – and offered him a new life and the chance to live young essentially forever. He accepted, obviously, and we've been traveling together ever since. We steal when we have to and move city to city, doing whatever we feel like doing and sometimes – most of the times – looking for trouble. Sometimes we play vigilante and take out a gang or serial rapist or what-have-you. We even run into other meta-humans from time to time, and Ryan never asks questions when I come home with blood-soaked clothes and another ability. We have a sort of understanding.

He's important to me. He's my brother, my only family that really knows me and accepts me. And he's gone missing inside a passive-aggressive urban warzone.


	3. Predatory

**-Chapter 3: Predatory-**

It had stopped drizzling by the time I landed on the roof of a coffee shop. The city hadn't totally gone to sleep, but seeing a person out and about at this time of night was rare. The stoplight at the intersection to the left was blinking red; not exactly a high-traffic time of night. I looked around and didn't see anyone anywhere. Great, that meant I got to play the bait. I jumped off the roof and floated down to the sidewalk. The slight buzzing of the street lamp was the only sound I could hear, and I suddenly found myself doubting anything was going to happen tonight. I walked a few meters down the street and took a seat on a bus stop bench.

* * *

I awoke to a shrill scream and a sudden bang in the distance. "Damn it!" I cursed out loud. I had fallen asleep in fucking Seattle at…what time was it? I pulled out my phone. 1:50 AM. I put it back in my pocket and took off into the sky in the direction of the noise. It wasn't that far away or that hard to find; it was an alleyway. I landed on the roof of the building next to it and peered down.

Now, there aren't a lot of things that shock me. By all counts I'm one of the country's most successful serial killers. I've stabbed, decapitated, and rended apart my victims without batting an eye – save the first few, but give me a break I was inexperienced. But this, this young girl – only a few years younger than me by all appearances – held a limp man in her grasp with her mouth buried in his neck. The man was still breathing shallowly but made no move to free himself, his only movement coming from his arms when the girl jostled him about. To the left of those two, there was a woman's body lying on the ground with her throat slashed out and her limbs pointing in awkward positions. I took in all of this in two seconds.

Apparently I wasn't very subtle about my landing, because the girl dropped the man to the ground with a thud and spun around so fast I wondered if she hadn't been facing me to begin with. She tilted her head back to look up at me and…snarled? Yes, she snarled and bared her teeth at me. That's the only way to describe it – like an animal. The street light across the street illuminated her face enough for me to get a look at her bright red eyes and beyond republican white skin. She was absolutely beautiful – if I weren't sitting here and watching her in real life I would say she was photoshopped for sure. The dribbling blood on her face that was slowly moving down her face only added to the illusion.

In another blur of speed, the beautiful girl leaped up to the roof I stood on and crouched down low. She growled and her nostrils flared at me. Then she lunged.

_The girl rushed me again, stabbing at my chest with her knife frantically. The psycho was fucking _grinning!

_"Leave me alone! Help!" I cried out to anyone that might hear. Thank God for my shield. Her swing was repelled with a crack as she took a step back. "Please hold, oh God please! HELP!"_

_"I can hardly wait," the girl said to herself as she thrust the hand not holding the knife toward me. Suddenly I was spinning. A sickening crack, and I was thrust into nothingness…_

She was repelled back five feet – her fingers digging into the roof as though through foam. She growled again, but this time she didn't have the time to lunge at me. Using Ryan's power, I threw her back down to the ally below and jumped down after her. She was already on her feet and lunged again. Damn, she was _fast_! On reflex, I drew my knife and hurled it at her – focusing to give it extra force. It went through the center of her chest and she shrieked in agony, clawing the air. I extended my hand and pulled the knife back out telekinetically. The girl, hand pressed on her wound, took two steps back and was suddenly gone. I sighed, taking a look around to make sure nobody saw the craziness that just took place, and turned back to the man on the ground.

He was gasping for breath on the ground, seizing and jerking and trying – frailly – to escape. I approached him slowly, rechecking my shield once again. Suddenly the man let out a wail completely unfit for a guy his size – it was absolutely frantic. I'm not completely sure he even noticed I was there.

"Please! Oh God _please kill me_!" the man screamed. He let out another scream.

I took my knife – still in my hand – and drove it through his neck, severing his spinal cord. The man didn't move again.

* * *

"Vampires. Fucking vampires? A _gang_ of vampires?"

I had gone straight to sleep when I got back to my hotel room that night. The next day I didn't venture outside, instead dedicating my time to figuring out exactly what was going on here. It didn't take me long to reach the conclusion that the thing I fought last night was a vampire. She sure wasn't human. Plus the whole sucking-the-blood-out-of-people thing kind of gave it away. That and the red eyes. Ok, that and the red eyes and the killing at night. Let's not forget stabbing her in the chest with a knife. Vampires, really?

Looking on the internet didn't yield any worthwhile results about vampires – at least on the public sections, but I didn't have any ideas where to hack into to get legitimate information – so I settled for continuing to research what I knew: unexplained murders and deaths. But I'm nothing if not thorough, so I set an automated query to look up anything related to 'vampires' and 'blood drinkers' in the northwest part of the country and continued my research. The two bodies weren't reported last night, so they were probably moved – by the vampire girl or another in their 'gang' I'm not entirely sure. Moving on from that dead end I broadened my search to all of Washington.

Bingo. Quite a few deaths and disappearances were reported all over the Olympic Peninsula – not that far away from Seattle. Most of them were reported as animal attacks; hikers mauled by a bear or attacked by wolves. Not too beyond belief, but I was looking for absolutely anything to go on at this point. There were four reported animal attacks so far this year, and it was only the beginning of May. Compare that to 2004's three reported animal attacks or 2005's two, and I seemed to be on the right track.

My computer beeped at me and I opened up my search query. Huh, I got a few hits. Two were worthless: a vampire bat article and the synopsis for a horror movie that was a couple years old. The third, however, was a potential hit. It was a link to a book on Quileute legends. Surprisingly, it wasn't 'vampire' that scored the hit; 'blood drinkers' was highlighted in a short – very short – summery of the book's contents.

"Cold Ones?" I asked myself. I hadn't actually touched the vampire girl's skin, but it wouldn't be a stretch to imagine it would be cold to the touch. Is that what that meant? Either way, it was a lead. If I was going to kill these monsters I needed to know how. I already knew knives to the chest didn't work; falling from a second story building and blunt force trauma was also out. But what about the sun? All the killings _did_ take place at night.

Bah, I had to stop speculating. I was using outdated information and rumors, and that's not good enough to draw such bold conclusions from. I did a search for the book and found it for sale at a local book store. I'd stop by tomorrow before I headed out northwest and into the Peninsula to look for more information. I loathed the fact I was moving myself so far away from my brother, but going in half-assed and oblivious did absolutely nothing good for Ryan. And I was a lot smarter than that.

* * *

**End Notes:** Thanks for the first review. As you can most probably tell, yes, the story does take place during Eclipse (although it'll be AU from here on out to accommodate my characters in the universe) . And yes, kind reviewer, Emily is most definitely prone to acts of violence and doesn't shy away from murder.


	4. Spoon Man

**-Chapter 4: Spoon Man-**

I woke up early the next day and made a few stops before heading out to the Quileute Reservation. The first was of course the book store – though I didn't buy the book. One of the several abilities I had acquired was photographic memory; a quick skim through the text and I was good to go. It turned out the information in the book was good – it detailed the red eyes and thirst for blood, but only mentioned that the Quileute Spirit Warriors had the power to kill them. Looks like more info was needed after all. The next stop was a little more risky. I needed a car, but I couldn't have anyone I stole it from reporting it. Killing someone and stealing a car would be even worse, so I settled for an ATM. I left the scraps behind a dumpster a couple blocks away – thank goodness there was minimal traffic this early in the morning – and took out a respectable $16,000 in cash. I decided skip buying a car in a car lot in the city and instead flew north to Sequim.

I bought a severely used tan Honda from a teenager for $6,500 and drove the piece of shit to a Hardees chain for breakfast. The car wasn't disgusting or anything, it was clean on the inside; but the outside had several dings and scratches, along with a healthy sprinkling of rust along the bottom of the sides and what felt like transmission problems. If I hadn't been in a hurry I probably would have complained. As I was finishing my biscuits and gravy, I took out my phone and turned on tethering and opened up my laptop. I pulled up a list of directions to get to the reservation and mentally cataloged it before shutting the lid and dumping my trash.

The ride there was plenty long. Long enough for me to break myself out of my self-imposed denial. My brother was most likely dead. Either that, or a…a _vampire_. There really was no other option. In my long life I've never met anyone that could best me in a fight, but Ryan always gave me a run for my money. He's taken on his fair share of thugs and meatheads on our travels – hell, he's even killed before; though he hates to be reminded of it. Entertaining the idea that my only friend was dead…I had to hope for the alternative. I don't care how much of a monster Ryan might be, or how many innocent he may have killed already. All I need is for him to be alive – so to speak – and the rest can go fuck themselves.

* * *

I arrived at La Push Beach and parked in the too-small parking lot. I shut off the engine and eyed the beach through the car's windshield, pondering as to exactly how I was going to squeeze these natives for information. I didn't exactly look like a native – my skin was too fair for that – and although that may have played in my favor for some situations, Native Americans aren't known for giving out tribe secrets to outsiders. They're very exclusive.

"What then?" I sighed out loud and sank back into my seat. "Beat it out of them?" The Tribal Legends book was good, but I could tell it was little more than sweeping generalizations. Which was normally fine, since the mystery and fanaticism of the stories were more for documenting the tribe's history and bringing in tourists – rather than a how-to guide to slaying vampires.

My ability pool wasn't of much use here for reconnaissance, either. Telekinesis and my shield for offense and defense, Synesthesia and my photographic memory were of no use here, and my 'lie detector' was only useful if I were to forgo all tact and simply play twenty questions with the tribal leaders. Hmm… Actually, fuck it; tact has never been my strong suit. Maybe if I had some sort of camouflaging ability or mind reading I could go incognito, but I _am_ in need of some tension release. The book gave me the impression the Quileute hate vampires, so telling them the truth will either A: cause them to laugh at me for believing in crazy legends, B: make them shut up tight about it – in which case I can indulge myself – or C: tell me more about our common enemy. Of course there was also the chance that they actually _did_ know nothing. But I would be able to tell if that were the case.

Pleased with my plan of attack, I checked to make sure my knife was on me, got out of my car and pulled on my jacket. There were a few people on the beach, so I shuffled down the hill toward the disturbingly grey and miserable-looking beach. There were a couple, a teenage boy and girl, looking out at the turbulent grey waters – but they were 'pale faces' as the Quileute called Caucasians. Further down and away from the water's edge, sat on a log around what used to be a campfire, was a brown-skinned boy with his back to me. I made my way over to him, zipping up my jacket because of the chilled air.

"Hey there!" I said in a loud speaking voice. The boy turned to me with a questioning expression, which took a nose dive into confused.

"Umm…hi?" the boy questioned. He had black hair and a slightly widened face – much like every native around here – with a blue t-shirt and cargo shorts on. His attire looked a little lacking for the temperature outside. I'd guess him to be about sixteen or seventeen, but he had a certain innocence about him.

"My name's Emily," I started, moving closer. He stood up and grasped my extended hand in a handshake. He was running a temperature. A _very_ high temperature – above one-oh-five, I'd guess. He should be hospitalized at that temperature, if not dead. Interesting.

"Seth," he said with a wide grin, "at your service! Haven't seen you around before, are you visiting family in Forks or something?"

"That's because I haven't been around here before – and no, no family in Forks that I know of." I replied, cocking an eyebrow but returning a small smile, sitting down on one end of the log Seth was sitting on. "You're a native…I mean you live on the reservation, right?"

"Yup!" Seth replied, sitting down on the other end of the log. I could tell he was one of those perpetually happy people.

"I need to talk with your tribal council," I said, tilting my head to the side, "or your chief…I need to speak with whoever's in charge around here."

"'bout what?" Seth asked, looking at me with suspicion mixed with confusion.

I was about to tell him I couldn't really talk to anyone but the council, when Seth's head snapped to the left. Standing at the tree line was a shirtless Quileute with frayed jean-shorts on eyeing me. He was taller and older than Seth, and had an angry expression on his face. He turned his gaze to Seth and motioned with his head to follow.

"Uh, got to go, Emily," Seth said as he stood up and jogged toward the man. They started conversing back and forth, the angry man sparing me a glance every now and then. I turned my head to the burned out fire and propped my head in my hand as I waited to see what would happen next.

I didn't have to wait long. Suddenly both Seth and the other man were strolling toward me. The man extended his hand, which was also scorching hot with a temperature. I started to think back to the tribe legend book to see if there was anything in there about the natives running hazardous temperatures.

"Sam," the man introduced himself, releasing my hand and crossing his arms over his broad chest. "What's your last name, Emily?"

"Ambrose," I replied truthfully, shooting Seth a questioning glance. "I need to talk to your tribal leaders or tribal council or whoever or whatever is in charge around here."

Sam narrowed his eyes at me and locked his jaw. "Why? For what purpose?"

It was at that precise moment my mental query came back with an arguably ridiculous theory as to why both of these boy's skin was so hot. The Quileute legends don't specifically say – in fact they're incredibly vague – but there were a few passages about them coming from wolves. I knew wolves were highly revered in this tribe, but to accuse them of being…werewolves? It seemed a little farfetched – except I had just learned vampires existed. And then there's the fact they should be shivering on their beds in a hospital somewhere with how much heat they were putting off. How to play this? A snide comment on his behavior would be appropriate. I'd just add in a wolf or dog reference and see how they react.

"Woah, man," I started, pulling up my eyebrows and placing a surprised expression on my face. "Get back on your leash; I just need some information on some of your tribe's legends."

His eyes flashed and his expression turned cold – it was subtle, but it was there. Huh, I was right; who would have guessed both werewolves _and_ vampires existed. And to think I said I had no tact. Well, at least now I can forget about seeing the council and go directly to the other mythical creature standing before me. I put on a small smirk took a step back.

"I'm looking for anything you can tell me about vampires."


	5. Into the Doghouse

**-Chapter 5: Into the Doghouse-**

"I don't know what you're talking about." Sam replied in a very unconvincing lie.

_I was thrown backward and pinned to the wall. "What…what do you want!"_

_The girl stepped through the doorway and casually walked toward me. "I just want to ask you a few questions," she said looking me in the eye._

_A shiver went up my spine "You're lying…" I said with wide eyes. The girl just grinned._

"How about a tribe of werewolves?" I asked, cocking my head to the side.

Sam shot Seth a murderous glare that would even frighten me a little. "_What_ did you tell her?" Sam all but snarled at the smaller boy.

"N-nothing, I swear!" Seth exclaimed, taking a step back and putting his hands out in a gesture of surrender.

"He really didn't tell me anything," I started, shaking my head, "I figured this out on my own. Look, all I need to know is how to kill them. I need to know their weaknesses – if they have any – and which of the myths about them are true."

Sam shook his head and plastered a condescending smirk on his face. Oh boy, I know where this is going. "Why? You want to find a leech so they can turn you into one? They'd bleed you dry and-"

I cut his speech off by knocking him back twenty feet with my telekinesis. He hit the ground hard and rolled a few more feet, then jumped up – trembling and glaring at me. I pressed him back down onto the ground with my mind. "Look," I began again, "I didn't ask for your opinions or insinuations. I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself but I'm in a hurry. Tell me what I want to know before I rip you in half."

"Holy shit…" Seth mumbled out. Sam growled at me, although it wasn't very affective as he was currently lying on his back in the sand. I lifted my arms out to my side to show him it was his move and released him. He pulled himself back up slowly and eyed me for a few seconds.

"Seth," Sam growled out, "go warn Billy we'll be by with…company." Seth nodded without a word and sprinted off into the tree line before exploding into a giant wolf.

"Huh." I mumbled out, still watching the spot where Seth disappeared.

Sam shot me another glare before turning around and walking at a brisk pace toward the road out of the beach area, me on his tail. I would have told the dick that I could have followed Seth there by flying, but I figured they wanted time to prepare everyone and tell everyone what I did to one of their wolves. A short while into the walk we turned right and continued for about two miles before I started seeing houses pop up – if they could be called houses. They were so _small_. Eventually we stopped at a reddish colored hut surrounded by more shirtless native boys – and one girl, although she was of course wearing a shirt – and Sam motioned for me to go inside. I flexed my shield and headed in.

The inside was not very large at all, which was made obvious by the tall man – boy – standing against the far wall in the kitchen. Surprise surprise, he also had the same sour expression and russet skin as the other Quileute natives. I would guess he was a wolf as well, but he had a black shirt on so I wasn't sure. Maybe it's a rule or something; I'll have to ask. Seth was there too, propped back against the kitchen sink. Sitting at the table in front of the tall man was an older man in a wheelchair – who, from the point in the room he sat, I gathered was Billy – with black holes for eyes, seemingly staring at my soul. The way these guys look at me I wouldn't be surprised if I suddenly went up in flames.

"Who are you," the man I assumed was Billy started before I stopped moving toward the table, "and how do you know of vampires?"

"Billy, is it?" I questioned back, pulling out a chair across from the man and sitting down. The man, Billy, nodded. "My name is Emily Ambrose and I ran into a vampire in Seattle a few days ago."

Billy nodded again but didn't reply or call me out on my explanation. The tall man narrowed his eyes and Seth's eyebrows shot up. I could tell they had questions and doubts, so maybe they'd be willing to trade information? Hmm…maybe they'd even start a legend about me. The thought made me smile. I decided to give him a little of my story since Billy didn't seem to want to grill me for answers right away and I knew they'd just ask later.

"About a week ago my brother went missing in Seattle," I started, "He's…like me, you could say. I knew right away that whatever had been killing all those people had gotten him, so I set out to…stop whoever was behind the murders and Ryan's disappearance."

"And you 'ran into' someone who looked like a vampire?" Billy questioned. I could see the doubt; even though I called his tribe out on being overgrown puppies and threw one of them around with my mind he still had to be certain I wasn't fucking with him.

"Pale white skin, red eyes, fast a hell, and likes to drink the blood of human beings in the dead of night." I leaned back in my chair. "I didn't get into a physical fight with her, if you know what I mean," I said, giving Sam a glance, "but I'd wager they're incredibly strong to boot."

Billy sighed and gripped the edges of his wheelchair, pulling himself up straighter. "What more do you need to know about them?" Good, so we're done playing mind games.

"Everything," I blurted out, taking a deep breath and looking around the room. Some of the shirtless guys had moved inside and were looking intently at our conversation. "I would rather not have to saw off their heads if I could flash a UV light at them or sprinkle a bit of garlic in their face." Several behind me snickered; Seth laughed. Even Billy cracked a small smile.

"And what would we get in return? We, as a rule, never give out information on our legends to outsiders." I could almost taste the tension in the room, even without using my ability. I eyed Billy and had to mentally pat him on the back for being bold enough to ask me for something after I kicked a werewolf's ass. I put my hands on the table and leaned forward.

"You mean besides slaughtering your entire kennel of a town?" He gulped. I grinned and slouched back down. "You hate vampires, I…really don't care for them right now for what they did to my brother – he's either dead or a vampire by now – maybe your 'great spirit warriors' and I can team up, or ally ourselves, or whatever you need to do to make yourselves feel safe from me."

Billy clenched his jaw but said nothing. The tall man stepped forward but Billy waved him off. I eyed Billy's wheelchair again. I wonder how he got that way. An accident? Maybe he was born that way.

"How'd you end up in a wheelchair?" I asked. I know, it wasn't completely relevant but I was curious. "Was it an accident?"

The tall man was vibrating with anger – literally vibrating – and attempted to lunge toward me. Luckily for him Sam pushed him back, but shot me a cold glance. Billy closed his eyes shook his head no. "Diabetes," he said, "nerve damage."

"Then how's this," I said, rising from my chair and walking around the table. "You teach me everything you know about vampires, we team up to fight the bad guys, and when everything is said and done I'll make sure you get the chance to walk again."

* * *

I'll never get over the look on Billy's face when I offered him a chance to walk again. For a minute I thought I might have broken him. Sam asked me to step out so they could discuss my offer amongst themselves, so I went into the forest a ways behind the house and flew up into a tree to wait them out. That's where Sam and the tall man found me sitting about forty minutes later. They beckoned me down.

"There are a few…details we have to discuss with you, but we accept your terms." Sam said after I landed with a thud on the ground. He started toward to the house, leaving me standing beside the tall man – who didn't look so pissed off anymore. Dare I say he looked…hopeful? We walked behind Sam together back to the house.

"I'm Jacob," the tall man introduced himself. "Sorry for how I acted."

"Emily," I replied as we reached the door. "Don't worry about it; I don't give a shit." Jacob grinned but didn't say anything else.

The atmosphere inside the house was drastically different from the first time I entered. It was still crowded with overheated werewolves and a few other natives, but everything seemed less like the inside of a courtroom and more like a friendly get together. Huh, maybe being nice has its perks. It's definitely a lot less of a mess.

"She's lying, she _has_ to be," one of the Quileute boys remarked from the kitchen as I moved through the living room. "Even that _leech_ doctor couldn't do anything for you, Billy!"

Frowning, I turned to my left. On the wall were several pictures of Billy and Jacob – ah, so Jacob was Billy's son – as well as a few with another Quileute woman. It didn't escape my attention that Billy wasn't in a wheelchair in any of the pictures with the woman. On a slim hanging ledge on the wall sat a clock about a foot tall that wasn't ticking. Perfect. I snagged it and made my way into the kitchen. The loudmouth sneered at me as I walked up to the table where Billy sat, but didn't say anything else. I sat the old clock down on the table.

"I can do a _lot_ more than kick ass without moving," I said as I made the clock hover over the table. The clock seemingly disassembled itself, unscrewing and spewing its gears and moving parts into the air. It looked very much like one of those 'blown up' diagrams of a car engine that explained how everything fit together. I rotated a few of the gears and straightened a few metal rods, and then pushed it all back together into a clock again. The process took only about twelve seconds. As I set it back down on the table, the 'tick tock' of the clock was clearly heard in the dead-silent room. "I instantly comprehend complex systems. I see how everything works and how to make it better." I gestured to the clock as proof.

"But I _am_ a bit concerned." I said. Billy glanced up at me, his face still in awe. "You advertise the 'Cold Ones' as your tribe's enemy, yet you hesitate to give me the information I want. I can't help but sense I'm missing a large piece of the puzzle here."

"Our people have a treaty with a coven of vampires in the area; we were bound – we could not tell you." Billy said.

"The ones from _Seattle_!" I meant it as a question but it came out as a shout. I clenched my fists, preparing for a fight.

"No!" Seth butted in. "They live in Forks and feed on animal blood."

I took a seat at the table once again. "Explain. Everything."

* * *

**End Notes:** I currently have up to chapter 8 finished for this story, but at the rate I'm updating I'll soon catch up to my lead. So, from here on out there will probably be an update every 4-5 days instead of every 2.


	6. Gold Rush

**-Chapter 6: Gold Rush-**

The pack spent the next couple hours explaining everything they knew about vampires from their dealings with the Cullens – the name of the animal drinking coven – and from tribal stories passed down from generation to generation. I was glad I decided to make this deal with them, because most of the information on vampires out there in books and on the internet was complete horse shit. Sunlight made them light up like a neon sign, their skin was harder than rock, and to kill one they had to be dismembered and burned. I made a mental note to buy a new lighter the next time I went into town.

Billy also told me these tame vampires that lived nearby gave him the OK to fill me in on the details of themselves, the wolf pack, and vampires as a whole – which was apparently outlawed in the treaty the two groups had made decades ago. They were aware of the situation in Seattle – though not one hundred percent sure it was vampires until I confirmed it – and wanted to meet with me the next day to trade information. Although I doubted the importance and relevance of anything else they could tell me of the vampires in Seattle, I decided to take them up on it. Besides, several of the coven had special powers and that intrigued me deeply. The pack told me this assuming I would turn the 'leeches' down, since they knew my brother was either killed or turned by vampires. Of course they had no idea I would kill their entire pack if I had to choose between them and my brother – species be damned.

And so that's why I was currently sitting in my hotel room in Forks, waiting for Jacob to come pick me up to meet the Cullens at their house while finishing my sub-par breakfast. Jacob volunteered to drive me – partially because he was best friends with the human mate of one of the vampires, but also because I was the one who could give his dad the chance to walk again – and I couldn't think of a good excuse to go alone, so I accepted. He knocked at 10:30 and I opened the door to motion him inside.

"Hey Emily, ready to go?" Jake asked, spinning his keys on his index finger.

I checked my phone for any messages – none – before putting it in my pocket, secured my knife, patted my wallet on the side of my pants, and pulled on my jacket. I snagged the new flip-open lighter I bought at a local gas station off the night stand and stuffed it in my jacket pocket. "Yep, let's go."

* * *

We pulled up to the massive white building – no, mansion – after riding down the most ridiculously long driveway I had ever seen. Next to the mansion was an equally impressive car garage with a…rust bucket red pickup truck in front of it? I'm not sure why I thought that was funny, but a part of my mind started the 'one of these things is not like the other' song and I started cracking up. Jacob eyed me like I was crazy before following my gaze to the truck and furrowing his brow. Well, I thought it was funny.

"Bella's here…" Jacob muttered. Ah, so the vampire's girlfriend drives a vehicle that is more of a piece of shit than mine is.

We both got out of his car and walked up the steps to the front door. I rippled my shield around me again, remembering my first encounter with a vampire. Before we reached the last step the door opened, revealing an extremely pale man with combed-back blond hair and kind golden eyes – a far cry from the feral red. This must be the coven leader. "Welcome," the man said, opening the door and gesturing us inside. "Please, come in."

Jacob and I followed him through a wide open area that housed a grand staircase and into a large sitting area or living room. I would not be surprised if _every_ room in this house was super-sized. I'll admit, it was quite creepy to walk into the living room and find seven people staring at you. Their placements were quite amusing – they were strategically placed around the room, paired off. To the right, sitting on a loveseat, was a large male vampire with curly hair who had his arm wrapped around a blond girl. They seemed to be polar opposites, her glaring at me and him grinning…almost challengingly. On the far left sat a female vampire who appeared to be in her mid twenties with brownish hair and a gentle expression on her face.

In the middle, slightly farther back on a couch, sat a group of three with a tall blond vampire standing on one end. Nearest him was a very small and erratic-looking black-haired female vampire. She was the only one with a grin plastered on her face and seemed very excited about something I'm not sure I want to know about. Beside her was a reddish-brown haired male vampire who looked to be fighting a smile. Holding his hand beside him was a pale-skinned human girl with wavy mahogany hair and brown eyes. That must be Bella. The vampires all had a golden hue to their irises instead of the violent crimson red of the first vampire I encountered.

"Gross," the blond female said. "Did we have to invite them _inside_ the house?"

I looked back at her and had to purse my lips to keep from smiling at her expression. Her face was contorted in a grimace like she was getting a rectal exam. Bite the pillow, blondie; I'm going in dry. Suddenly the copper haired one next to Bella started laughing hysterically as though he heard my joke. Oh, so _this_ was the mind reader. Jacob had warned me about him – over and over again, actually. The mind reader nodded at me, covering his mouth with his hand in an effort to physically halt his laughing.

I felt the familiar whirring of my ability start to piece together how exactly mind reading worked in the back of my head. Over and over again I came up with nothing useful and the dark parts of my mind surged forth and _demanded_ that I discover the mechanics of his power. Rend, tear, acquire. I clenched my teeth together and tried to focus on something else – anything else.

The coven leader shook his head and sighed, then turned back to me. "I believe introductions are in order. I am Carlisle Cullen and this is my family," he gestured to the female on the left, "this is my wife, Esme; Bella and Edward; Alice and Jasper; and Rosalie and Emmet."

"Emily Ambrose," I introduced myself, inclining my head and moving into the empty chair closest to where I stood. Jacob moved to the wall next to the exit but did not sit down, instead leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. I started mentally appraising my piece of shit Honda and thinking of adjustments I could make to improve its efficiency. Breath in, breath out. I can do this.

Carlisle moved to Esme's chair and sat beside her. "Would you mind telling us your story?"

I shook my head no and began my tale. "Over a week ago my brother, Ryan, disappeared in Seattle and I knew right away that whoever had been killing all those people had gotten to him. I started tracking the 'gang's habits and patterns, and I eventually came upon a young girl with red eyes feeding off a couple of people. We had a small…altercation and she got away. I started searching for anything on vampires in the immediate area and came upon Quileute legends about Cold Ones. I convinced the Quileute tribe to tell me everything they know about vampires, they called you, and now I'm here."

"I understand you have certain…abilities?" Carlisle pressed, leaning forward excitedly. Edward eyed me wearily, probably having heard my ability wanting to hold him down, tear open his head and…I should probably stop that thought process right now.

Instead of answering him, I decided to demonstrate the same way Ryan did to me decades ago and lifted the large chair he and Esme were sitting in four feet off the floor. Carlisle flinched and grasped the side of the chair while Esme gasped in surprise. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Jasper crouch forward slightly, the rest of the group stared on in awe – which was a reaction quickly becoming as old as the rain in the area.

"You're immortal?" Edward's voice came from the far couch. Bella's brows furrowed together as I nodded. He must have pulled that out of my thoughts. I'd have to come up with some way to block him or this could get _very_ annoying.

"I don't age," I corrected, "but I can still be killed."

"So what are you?" Bella asked, making me raise my eyebrows and look over at her – her face slightly blushing from the attention drawn to her.

"Scorpio," I answered with a straight face, causing Emmet to laugh. "We call ourselves meta-humans or specials; there's not exactly a lexicon. I'm not an alien or a different species or anything; I was just born with an extra ability."

Carlisle cleared his throat. "Back to your story; if Jacob and the pack already told you about our weaknesses and physiology," he said, "why did you agree to meet with us?"

"I know you're strong and fast, and that your bodies are extremely flammable," I answered, "but I need to know _how_ fast and _how_ strong. I'd like to know your habits and how they differ from the vampire I came across – who was absolutely feral and mindlessly attacked me. I require more…_precise_ answers to my questions."

"How did you know where the vampire would have been?" Jasper asked.

"I was tracking their kills on my computer and noticed a pattern." I explained to the group. "Their kill zone, so to speak, would spread from one edge of Seattle…gradually to the center, spreading outward as it went. This zone would change every few days to a week or so. Their pattern was predictable, moving clockwise, and so I only had to figure out where the next one would be."

"Just how many are there?" asked Esme.

"Quite a few, from my research," I sighed, "Roughly every time the kill zone would change, a house or property just outside of Seattle would burn down. All of them were unoccupied and no deaths were reported, so it makes sense that it wasn't connected to the murders, but the properties in question were quite large. I'd estimate over fifteen vampires."

And around and around the questions went. Sometimes I would ask something, other times one of the coven would. We also discussed my brother's possible fate as a newborn vampire and plans to deal with the threat to exposure they were causing. That lead into a discussion on the Volturi – the group of powerful and gifted vampires that killed off vampires who made spectacles of themselves or exposed their existence.

Jasper guessed that the vampires in Seattle were actually a newborn army, created to fight and die for their creator – whoever that may be. He explained his story to us about how he was raised to fight in the southern wars for territory by his creator, Maria. He also showed Bella and I his numerous scars – which were difficult to see without the proper light. It was very informational, and gave me a small degree of hope that my brother was alive as a member of this army.

A few hours in, Jacob was getting antsy from being so close to vampires for hours on end. I told him I'd be fine here and that I'd call if I needed a ride back, so he reluctantly left – which was too bad for him, because Esme brought out sandwiches for a late lunch a few minutes later. She looked mildly offended when I asked her if she did anything malicious to the sandwich, and I actually felt a little guilty for having asked – even though it was a habit of mine not to trust people.

* * *

"Ready, Ambrose?" Emmet taunted from across the lawn.

The Cullens answered all my questions I had and more. Plans were made for us to head out to Seattle to deal with the newborns and search for my brother the weekend after Bella, Alice, and Edward's graduation ceremony. Although I wanted to find my brother as fast as possible, I had to admit it would be a hell of a lot easier dealing with vampires _with _vampires. Carlisle also filled me in on the approximate strength and speed a vampire possessed in comparison to a human, as well as the caustic-yet-flammable nature of their venom. Emmet was all too enthusiastic in showing me how sharp objects had no effect on vampire skin, which prompted another discussion with Carlisle.

_"The only things sharp enough to pierce a vampire's skin are, of course, a vampire's teeth as well as a werewolf's teeth or claws." I examined the journals in Carlisle's office as we spoke._

_Those aren't the _only_ things, I thought to myself, reliving the fight with the newborn vampire I fought with._

_"Incredible," Edward said as he entered the office, eyeing my knife._

_"What is, Edward?" Carlisle questioned._

_"He was talking about my knife," I answered instead of Edward, pulling out my knife for him to see, "I made it myself. It's crafted from a very dense and structurally stable compound I call Divinium. It's practically indestructible and in cases such as a knife or sword, impossibly sharp."_

_"May I?" Carlisle asked._

_I hesitated, but nodded and sat the blade down on his desk instead of handing it to him. The entirety of it was a single solid piece of metal – from blade tip to handle end – and gleamed a dark silver color in the light. I had modeled it after a hunting knife design – the top of the blade was jagged and meant for ripping and tearing flesh as it was pulled out, while the bottom held a sleek and slightly curved form. Very beautiful._

_"It _does_ cut vampire skin, Carlisle, so I'd be careful if I were you."_

_"Ouch!" Carlisle exclaimed, forgoing my warning and pricking his finger on the point of the knife. He set it back down on his desk and examined his finger, which was already healing._

_I pulled the knife back through the air and holstered it. "Told you so."_

"Ready, Cullen," I answered back, checking my shield. It didn't take much time for Emmet to get bored with our back and forth Q and A session, and he challenged me to a fight.

"Is she going to be OK?" I heard Bella whisper from behind me. Alice's tinkling laugh sounded through the air as her answer.

One second Emmet is on the other side of the field-like front lawn, the next he's rebounding away from me, a electric crashing sound echoing through the air. Emmet got back up and attempted to rush me again, though his attacks were futile against my shield. Before he blurred away from my eyes I grabbed hold of him with my mind and slammed him into the ground.

"FUCK!" Emmet shouted from his prone position.

"Language!" Esme admonished, a smile evident in her voice. Emmet growled an incoherent response.

I yanked him toward me and hovered his body seven feet in front of me, extending his arms and legs outward, giving Emmet the appearance of a starfish. He thrashed about and I laughed. "So this would be the part where I dismember and incinerate you. Looks like I win."

I let him fall to the ground. He bounced up with a grin on his face like the fact that a human just incapacitated a vampire was no big deal to him.

"Oh man, that was _awesome!_" Emmet exclaimed. Everyone laughed, even Rosalie.

* * *

**End Notes:** This is my longest chapter so far, but the next few will be about average with the word count. It also turns out I lied about posting every 4 or so days.


	7. Some Assembly Required

**-Chapter 7: Some Assembly Required-**

"Checkmate," I announced for the fourth time in a row.

"Very impressive, Ms. Ambrose," Jasper responded, placing the Chess pieces back on the board. I shook my head and let out a sigh.

"It's my ability at work," I said, "I can understand the game mechanics entirely, so I play a perfect game each time." Suddenly my phone started ringing in my pocket; I pulled it out and checked the caller id – Jacob.

"Hello, Jacob," I answered. Jasper got up and left the room to give me a sense of privacy.

_"Why didn't you call?"_ Jacob asked.

"Because I haven't left yet," I answered, looking out the window at the dark lawn. "And, it's dark out now so I'll probably just fly back to the hotel."

_"Fine, fine. Just be careful."_

I hung up without answering and glanced at the phone's clock. 10:30 – wow, time really does fly. I put the phone back in my pocket and stood up, stretching my limbs from the hour or so I spent playing Chess. Edward had taken Bella home after I won the first game and hadn't returned yet, Alice was probably with Jasper wherever he was, and I had no idea where the rest of the Cullens were.

Deciding now was as good a time as any to head back and go to bed, I moved out of the room to go let someone know I was leaving. I found Carlisle, Esme, Emmet, and Rosalie conversing in hushed tones in the vast open area next to the staircase. As I entered, Rosalie shot me yet another glare and stormed off to what I think was the door to the garage. Emmet shrugged his shoulders at me and went off after her.

"I'll be heading back now," I told Carlisle and Esme. "Call me if you learn anything else about the Seattle situation."

"Of course we will," Esme answered, "and you be sure to come back here any time." I nodded my head but I wasn't sure I meant it. Keeping my shield up for hours at a time was mentally draining me. I moved to the door, but Carlisle stopped me with a hand on my shoulder – or as near to my shoulder as my shield would allow him.

"I understand you would get home faster by yourself," Carlisle said, "but would you consider letting me drive you to the hotel you're staying at? I have something I'd like to discuss with you."

I turned my head to look at him for a moment before muttering out "sure." He led me out to the garage – although Emmet and Rosalie were nowhere to be found – and into his black Mercedes.

We were all the way to the highway back to Forks before he started talking. "I realize you have a place to stay, Emily, but Esme and I would like to offer you a room at our house."

I turned my head to look at Carlisle with suspicion clear in my expression. "Why do you want me to stay with you?"

"Because it's the right thing to do," he replied without hesitating, "and because you've given us quite a bit of first hand information on the Seattle situation." A tingle ran down my spine.

"You want to try that again?" I said, my hand inching toward my knife. Carlisle let out a chuckle.

"I find your abilities…interesting," he said as we passed the 'Welcome to Forks' sign. "Edward explained to me how you…gained them, for lack of a better word, and I can't help but wonder…"

He was being truthful so I said nothing, allowing him to continue.

"You say you share the same ability with your brother, Ryan, but you never…he's still alive," Carlisle flinched from his poor choice of words and shook his head, "What I mean is you never had to kill him to gain his ability for yourself."

I quickly put together what he was saying and I can honestly say I was caught by surprise. I had had Ryan's ability for so long that it almost felt, on an instinctual level, as though it was _my_ gift instead of an acquired power. "I've never thought of that, Carlisle, but you're right. What are you getting at?"

"Well, I'd like to see if you could gain another ability without killing, like you did with your brother. I don't know the specifics of your power, of course, but perhaps being in close proximity with a gifted individual would help the process?"

"Plus," I added, "Edward can be sure I don't go off to kill his mate when he's around to protect her."

Carlisle grimaced. "You'll understand if Edward feels…protective of Bella, and doesn't fully trust you yet." I shrugged. "What with Victoria, vampires in Seattle, and the vampire that was in her room…trouble just seems to follow Bella around."

Oh yes. This had also been explained to me. Apparently an unknown vampire snuck into Bella's room when she wasn't there and stole some of her clothes. Charlie – Bella's father – wasn't killed, but it had unsettled everyone that a vampire could get that close to her without setting off Alice's fortune telling alarm. I pondered whether or not to take Carlisle up on his offer. The Cullens already knew where I was staying, and if I moved Alice could still see where I went. Staying on the reservation would keep them away, but then I had rampaging werewolves to deal with.

"I'm in," I said, "as long as it's Edward's power we work on first. He could use a dose of his own medicine and I've always wanted to be able to read minds."

"Alice has probably already told Esme by now," He said with a small laugh as we pulled up to the hotel. "The room should be ready by tomorrow – if not sooner. I'll ask Edward to help."

"I'll see you then," I said as I climbed out and headed for my room.

* * *

_"You could have come and stayed here!"_

"No offence, Jacob, but your entire tribe is kind of poor," I spoke across the room to my phone as I went about brushing my teeth and putting on a pair of new clothes. "Plus, Sam and a few others give me the impression they wouldn't mind if I suddenly dropped dead."

_"We could work something out with the council. You could sleep at my house and-"_

"No!" I cut him off as I zipped up my backpack and moved over to the phone, switching it off speakerphone. "If you continue with this overprotective obsession of yours I will get a new phone number. Goodbye, Jacob." I ended the call and slung the backpack over my shoulder. After putting my backpack and laptop in my car, I walked to the pitiful excuse for a hotel front desk and checked out of my room and raided the vending machines. Mountain Dew and Pop Tarts, breakfast of champions. I got back into my car and drove off to the Cullen's house.

Esme greeted me at the door like a stereotypical housewife and led me up to the guest bedroom on the third floor. I was impressed, though I'm not sure why. It was the standard super huge, super clean, bright type of room with a large glass window-slash-door replacing the back wall and a four-poster bed in the middle – which was also large. Of course there was a bathroom attached and a walk-in closet, though I didn't have enough clothes with me to warrant the latter's use.

"Yeah, Jacob can go fuck himself," I muttered under my breath as I lay down on the bed. Esme, who I completely forgot was standing in the doorway, raised her eyebrows like she wanted to scold me for my use of the 'f-word.' I shook my head and got up off the bed. "It's great, Esme, thanks for letting me stay here."

"It's no trouble." She said. "Let me know if you need anything." With that, she left me to my own devices.

I went down into the living room area where Emmet frequently played video games but no one was there. In fact, the whole house seemed to be silent. Oh, wait, it's Monday today. That means Edward and Alice are at school and Carlisle is at the hospital – which would apparently be extremely difficult for the average vampire. I decided to see what kind of cars vampires drive and headed in the direction of the garage.

The scene before me made let out a small laugh. Emmet sat on the ground, holding up a red sports car of some kind with one hand without any effort. He turned and grinned at me as I walked in. Underneath the vehicle was who I thought was Rosalie, although I would have never pegged her as the type of person to go anywhere near the underside of a car. Suddenly she slid out and glared at me. "What do _you_ want?" Oh yes, definitely Rosalie.

"My brother back," I said nonchalantly. "You need some help with your car?"

She snorted at me and slid back under the car. "Hold here, Emmet," she said, and he shifted his hand to the new spot.

I walked around to the front of the car by Emmet – which was still jacked up in the air – and levitated myself high enough to look under the open hood. Although I had absolutely _no_ clue what any of the things in the car were called, my ability started analyzing anyway. I was surprised how optimized it was. It wasn't my level of perfect, no, but still very good work. I touched back down to the ground and crouched low, extending my arm under the car.

"If you shorten this pipe here," I gestured to one of the many running from the hood to various places underneath the car, "you'll get about point-one-two more miles-per-gallon more without impacting any of the other stats."

Rosalie slid closer to the pipe I was pointing out and eyed it for a few seconds before reluctantly telling me I was right.

"Bad ass…" Emmet said to me, letting the car slip less than an inch.

"Emmet! Keep it steady!" Rosalie snapped from beneath the car.

Satisfied with our short bonding experience, I went back inside the house and up into my room to wait for Carlisle to get back.

* * *

**End Notes:** I went back and changed a few minor details of the story. It's nothing big, just stuff like Billy being in a wheelchair because of his diabetes and not because of a car accident. I would definitely appreciate it if anyone finds any other canon holes from the first two books to let me know.


	8. Parasite

**-Chapter 8: Parasite-**

The 'children' arrived first, school ending hours before Carlisle's hours at the hospital were over. I _had _planned on waiting in my room until it was time for my mind reading lesson, but Emmet convinced me Halo 3 would make the time go by faster – and it did. Surprisingly, Bella was with them when the three of them came in the house and found Emmet and I playing online against very opinionated thirteen year old boys. We were winning, of course; the other team was upset and told me to 'go back to the kitchen.' Alice flitted over to Jasper, who had been watching us play for the last half hour, and sat on his lap to watch us finish our game.

After our rounds of gaming, I spent quite a bit of time with Bella – with Edward supervising, of course – having her lie to me about anything of consequence. Emmet had let slip during the heat of the multiplayer smackdown that Edward could not read Bella's mind, and she was also immune to several of the Volturi's abilities.

"The pen is red." Bella said, completely unconvincingly as I held up a royal blue ink pen in my hand. She was a _horrible _liar, but I felt no tingle. My ability said she was telling the truth. She had also told me the sky was purple and books were edible. All truthful, as deemed by my lie detecting ability. Carlisle walked through the front door then and came into the living room where Bella and I sat, facing toward each other, and cocked an eyebrow at us.

"Bella can lie to Emily," Edward explained as Carlisle took a seat to my right. Esme brought in a glass of soda and sat it down on the side table for me and I nodded my thanks.

"Fascinating," Carlisle breathed out, bringing his fingertips up to his chin in a very scientist-like manor.

"She's some sort of shield," I said, clamping down on my ability so it didn't get the chance to obsess over another potential ability. She was like me. She was a meta-human. "My telekinesis would probably work on her, so her ability is probably limited to shielding powers of the mind."

Carlisle was probably about to ask another question, but Edward interrupted him – most likely catching my internal struggle to keep from pressing Bella up against the wall and-

"We should probably get started," Edward said, his jaw clenched and his arm wrapped around Bella's shoulders. "What do I need to do?"

"Well," Carlisle started, turning to me, "what was going through your mind when you acquired your brother's power?"

I closed my eyes and thought back to that moment so many years ago and let the emotions take me. Behind me, Jasper let out a shaky breath. "Jealousy…the strongest I've ever felt." Jasper rasped out. The emotion was quite debilitating, so I reeled it in and focused on the present.

"I think there's more to it than that, though," Edward commented. I opened my eyes and mentally urged him to continue. "I've experienced several of your acquisitions through your thoughts, and the underlying theme is an overwhelming curiosity…it becomes an obsession to you to the point of becoming compulsive. Much like Rosalie's car, you need to actually observe the system in order to understand it."

"I already know all this." I said. _What are you getting at?_

"I got to thinking about Alice and her ability," Edward continued. "Though they are almost completely different, they both require visual stimuli to work – Alice has to know or have seen the person in order to see their future, like you had to see the parts of the car to comprehend it."

"That's not always true, though," Alice cut in, "I saw Jasper and Carlisle's family before I ever met them."

"Yes," Carlisle answered, apparently catching on, "but Jasper, and my family and I, were part of your future. Your own decisions are what brought you to us. If you were to have chosen a different path to take, your visions would change." Edward nodded at him.

"And then there are the wolves," Edward said to Alice. "You can't see them in your visions – they cause the future to become blank – but you still _know_ when the future involves the Quileute because of that fact."

"Wait," Emmet interrupted, "Couldn't she just…analyze, or whatever, her own ability or something to figure out how she got telekinesis?"

"No," I answered. "For some reason I can't use my ability on itself; I've tried before. Maybe it's a failsafe or something, like deleting an operating system from within that operating system. I just don't know." I shrugged and turned back to Edward, who continued.

"If I'm right, you don't need to kill at all to gain an ability. Think of it like this, you're used to working complex calculus problems on paper and you're great at it. It would be extremely difficult to do – for an average person – but you _could_ do those same problems in your head, without using the pencil and paper at all. Focus less on the concrete and more on the abstract of the ability."

"So you want me to figure out how your brain reads minds without ripping your skull open and examining the pieces?" Edward nodded his head. "Then why didn't you just say that?"

Emmet 'guffawed' a loud laugh that I felt in the floorboards of the mansion while Alice's tinkling laughter rang through the room. "Would you like to give it a try?" Carlisle asked me. I took a deep breath and nodded to him, then turned to Edward and focused, letting my ability flow out and touch Edward's mind.

The expected _need_ to acquire his power surged, but I easily swatted it away and continued to breathe in and out. _Can you hear me?_ Edward nodded and a small part of my mind catalogued and analyzed the completed communication between us. I started flipping through memories, slowly at first but growing faster and faster. Edward's eyes seemed to slightly lose focus as he watched with me as they sped by. I logged the speed at which his mind could no longer keep up with mine when his eyes started darting left to right, as well as how much his focus was divided from the real world as he watched memories – both legitimate and forged. My vision grew narrow and suddenly I wasn't in the room any more.

_"Edward? Edward can you hear me? Oh God forgive me for what I have done. You're OK, Edward. I'll explain everything."_

_"Where am I?" I questioned. "Who are you?" A pale man with blond hair and gold eyes stood before me in a room I did not recognize._

_"How much does he remember? Elizabeth begged…and I could not just let him…My name is Carlisle Cullen, and I have a few things I need to explain if you'll give me the chance."_

_"Why does my throat hurt?" It was burning and I was so thirsty._

_"Just say it and get it over with," Carlisle said without moving his lips. He took a breath and spoke out loud. "You were dying, Edward, and so I saved you in the only way I could."_

I came back to myself with a snap. My head throbbed and my fists were clenched on the armrests of the chair I sat in. Those were _not_ my memories, clearly. Apparently Carlisle's theory worked and now, hopefully, I was a mind reader.

"Emily," Edward asked, "can you hear me?"

"Yes," I answered, sitting back and putting a hand over my forehead. "I'm fine; I just got a blast of Edward's memories."

"Amazing!" Carlisle exclaimed at the same time Emmet cursed out loud.

"Great, Edward, thanks a lot." Rosalie remarked.

"Emily," Edward called my name. I glanced up to look at him.

"She can read our thoughts?" Carlisle asked Edward.

"Yes." Edward confirmed.

"God, I _hate_ it when you do that!" Emmet exclaimed.

And then I understood. They weren't talking out loud; I was hearing their thoughts in my head.

_Yes,_ Edward answered, his lips not moving. _It does take a while to learn the difference between a thought and a spoken word._

I turned to Carlisle. "Yes, I have it. It worked – I can read minds now." I said with a grin, leaning back in my chair and feeling like a badass.


	9. The Old Familiar Places

**-Chapter 9: The Old Familiar Places-**

It turns out that trying to sleep is extremely difficult when one is a mind reader. Of course, Edward wouldn't know anything about this, as vampires don't sleep, but it was a definite low point to the ability. I had learned the hard way, when I took my first power from that poor girl in the woods, that what I steal I keep – no matter how much I'd like to throw it away or give it back. This was completely fine for my telekinesis and shield, but my Synesthesia and lie detecting abilities were _constantly_ on. And now, so was mind reading.

I woke up around one in the afternoon the next day and shook the sleep from my eyes, glancing out the glass wall at the forest beyond. With a grunt, I got out of bed and shuffled into the bathroom to take a shower. Listening to seven vampires constantly thinking was not exactly good for my sleep schedule. Luckily, Emmet and Rosalie were out hunting and Edward and Alice were at school again; it was the first day of finals, apparently, from Esme's thoughts down in the kitchen. She heard me get up and wanted to make me breakfast – er, lunch, rather.

After I was dressed in my standard t-shirt and cargo pants I headed downstairs to the aroma of cooking burgers. I swear, it's like she can read minds herself; cheeseburgers were just awesome. She placed the burger on a plate and got out a soda for me as well.

_Should she really be eating this kind of food all the time? I hope it doesn't impact her health…_

"It's fine, Esme," I replied, sitting down and opening the tab on the Mountain Dew. "I practically live off unhealthy food and soda."

She shook her head at me and put the still-hot skillet in the dishwater, scrubbing away at it with vampire speed. "It's going to take me a while to get used to that."

"You and me both." I murmured as I stuffed the last of the burger in my mouth. Esme took the plate from me but didn't say anything.

* * *

A half hour later I found myself in the cover of the forest outside the mansion. I hurled my knife at a tree about a football field away, and heard the satisfying crack of impact as the tree shook violently. With a jerk of my wrist, the knife dislodged itself and returned back to my hand. I brought my hand back to throw again when the thoughts of Alice and Edward reached my mind. Apparently Bella went down to La Push to see Jacob; Edward was worried, but content that the wolves would be able to look after her.

Thinking back, I realized it had been days since I left the Cullen's estate. No wonder I was out in the woods cutting down trees branch by branch. I needed a little excitement – maybe a fly over to Port Angeles or even Seattle? I could use a break from the boredom of waiting for us to go in and kill off the newborns. The resident vampires needed to go hunt anyway. Living with a human – well, ninety-eight percent human – could not be easy on their control.

_Not Seattle._ Alice said through her thoughts. _I had a few fleeting visions of the Volturi deciding to finally investigate._

Port Angeles it is, then. Catch you later, Edward.

_Sure thing. I'll let Esme know she won't need to cook you dinner._ I sheathed my knife, pulled up the hood of my jacket, and launched up into the sky and above the cloud cover.

* * *

The sun was nearly touching the water's edge when I arrived on the docks of Port Angeles. Though I'm sure the air was chilly, I felt completely fine from having the wind blast my face on the fly over. I'd have to get a scarf or something if I didn't want my face to get windburn. I turned around to search for a restaurant when I realized I didn't have any money with me – or my phone for that matter. And despite this, I felt invigorated and dangerous.

The sun was even further down the horizon and nearly gone by the time I reached the shops and restaurants section of the small town. The only thoughts I picked up in the nearby area were from small pockets where restaurants were located or people leaving work for the day – after all, it was early in the week and from the looks of things it didn't look like Port Angeles had much of a nightlife. I needed a more…shady neighborhood for what I had in mind.

As soon as I saw the train tracks and abandoned warehouses I knew I was in the right place. The area was nowhere near the size of my normal playgrounds – a kiddie pool compared to Seattle – but I had faith that it would do for my need of both money and fun. I was not disappointed.

At first I thought I was picking up the thoughts of a perverted and deranged bank clerk, but then they looked at a dozen small bags of drugs of some sort. Ah, crystal meth from his thoughts. I was slightly surprised someone would be selling a drug like that _here_. I mean, pot is in practically every town and it's easy enough to find a dealer if you know where to look. But this stuff in a town this small? Maybe they got scared off from the murders in Seattle, or maybe I just lucked out; I don't know. What I did know is those drugs were _expensive_, and dealers usually carried a weapon of some sort.

I walked around the corner and started my act as soon as I caught sight of him. He was leaning on one of the brick walls in a large indent made in one of the buildings used for an air conditioner. He looked to be about twenty-five, white with straight black hair, and a brown hoodie on. The look on his face made it obvious he liked to sample his product. I walked toward him, still on the other side of the street, with my arms crossed tightly over my chest and my shoulders hunched. It put off an air of helplessness.

_…what's a piece of ass like her doing out here? Maybe she's looking for some fun…there's no one around. Say hi, don't creep her out. Be charming!_

I had to duck my head to keep him from seeing my grin. I was definitely looking for some fun. From his thoughts I gathered that he carried a handgun in his pants. I pulled my shield tightly around my body and steeled my face before glancing up at him.

"Hey!" the man called. "Are you OK?" I made sure to hesitate before stepping off the sidewalk and crossing over to his side of the street, stopping about ten feet away from him.

"Do you have a phone?" I asked. "I forgot mine and I'm completely lost. I need to call my parents."

"Yeah, sure," the man said as he motioned me back behind the air conditioner, "you can use my cell." I ignored the tingle that ran down my spine as I followed him into the deep shade.

I have to admit, I did not find pushing me up against the wall charming at all – though I lowered my shield to give him a sense of dominance for the moment. His thoughts became incoherent as he lost himself to his lust – he didn't bother to threaten me or talk to me at all. Straight to business then, I like it. With a grunt, the junkie jerked me away from the wall and pressed his weight down on me, trying to get me to fall.

"Tough luck," I breathed out as I grasped both of his upper arms and squeezed. He released me, taking in a breath to scream out in pain. I swept my leg behind his feet and leaned, using my own weight to throw him over – this time it worked, and he was soon gasping for breath on the ground with me straddling his stomach. The poor guy didn't know what was happening to him; tears were welling up in his eyes and he struggled beneath me.

"Help!" the man rasped out. It wasn't even a full scream, barely a raised voice. Not that even a scream would attract attention in this area at this time of day. Mr. Junkie certainly didn't display any extraordinary talents that I could make use of, so I decided to finish him off as clean as possible. I pressed down on his shoulder with my left hand and crouched over his body, bringing back my right palm, before driving it into the center of his chest. Bones cracked as he let out a gurgle and a few twitches; then he was still.

* * *

The Junkie, or Peter Frederick as his license said, had about sixty bucks in his wallet – which was pretty pathetic for a drug dealer. I had ripped his body into pieces with telekinesis before depositing them along with the drugs and gun into the bottom of a halfway-full dumpster around the block. After getting some premium fast food to go from McDonalds, I retreated to the roof of an office building to eat. It was about that time that I realized it was full on dark and Alice had probably seen me murder someone. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. Shrugging, I dropped my trash in a trashcan below where I sat and flew off back to Forks.

Alice was waiting in my room when I flew in through the glass door.

_Have fun?_ She asked through her thoughts.

"Yes." I said, moving over to my phone, which was still plugged in and charging – two missed calls from Jacob; I'd have to look into a new phone. Her thoughts revealed that she didn't tell anyone about the murder – except Edward, of course.

"Take your phone next time," she said, her tone difficult to identify. "I could have wired you money." _You didn't need to _kill_ someone!_

I rolled my eyes but didn't say anything. I probably would have killed him regardless of money – plus, the guy wasn't exactly loaded.

"Well, you're not the only one who had an exciting evening." She chirped, back to her usual self. She thought back a few hours ago. Apparently Bella punched Jacob in the face and cracked her hand – she has to wear a brace. I was still laughing as she danced out of my room.

* * *

**End Notes:** I am _pretty_ sure this chapter didn't dip into the 'M' range in terms of rating. If I did, maybe you should chew me out with a review?

I am mostly finished with this story. It'll be about 16-17 chapters long, depending on how the mood strikes me.


	10. Trolling About

**-Chapter 10: Trolling About-**

Still no calls or texts from my brother. The obsessive checking was not beyond my notice. Vampire's could use the phone, right? Why didn't he just call me? If I was being honest with myself I was petrified of losing my brother. The thought was not a new one, but each time I checked my cell phone my psychotic break grew more and more near the surface. What would I do if he were dead and gone from this world? Would I bum around with the nice vampire family? Would I go on a vampire killing spree?

I didn't know, and didn't want to think about it, so I decided to go annoy Rosalie for a while.

"What do you want?" Rosalie hissed as I entered the holy temple that is her garage. _Stupid humans interfering with my family. First Bella – who wants to throw away her humanity – and now a fucking psychopath!_

"I was wondering just how large the mirror must be under that car for you to spend so much time in here," I said, leaning against the garage wall.

She growled, but didn't say anything.

"Why are you so against Bella becoming a vampire?" I said suddenly, flipping around a pair of pliers with one hand.

"Stay out of my head!" _God! As if one Edward wasn't enough._

"I don't think I hate myself enough to be another Edward," I said, completely ignoring her verbal request. "Besides, I really want to know. Your whole family seems to loath vampirism – with the exceptions of Alice and your husband. You look at humanity like it's the Holy Grail – as ironic as that might be."

"I don't expect you to understand…" Rosalie started, and I could tell already she was border lining on a guilt trip or a sad story.

"No shit," I cut in, sliding down to the ground and sitting cross legged with my back to the wall. "That's why I _asked_ you."

"She's throwing her life away to be with my brother," Rosalie said, the crank of a wrench followed her words. "She's giving up a life full of normalcy – a life of children and grandchildren and growing old." She slid out from under her car and sat against the frame, wiping off a smudge on her cheek.

"So because you can't have those things," I said, leaning forward and putting on my fake-pondering face, "you have decided to pick the mate of your vampire brother to live vicariously through?"

"I'm trying to help her!" Rosalie said in a forceful voice, standing up and clenching her fists. My shield slid into place as a precaution. "She doesn't know what it's like, she has everything I could ever dream of and she wants to _die_!"

"Vampires aren't dead." I shrugged, not bothering to raise my voice above the level I was speaking at.

_What the fuck does this human…_ "You pick _that_ to argue back with?"

"Your other point was kind of stupid, Rosalie." I said slowly, looking her in the eyes. "Bella's not exactly an idiot – at least from what I've witnessed – she's been beaten and bitten by a vampire, abandoned by your family, gone to stop Edward from committing suicide, and is planning on marrying him as well. She looks the type who would think things through."

She glared at me, but her mind revealed she was actually processing what I said.

"And no, Vampires are not dead. You may not have a heartbeat, but then again neither do trees. A corpse can't regenerate or think or talk. If I stabbed you with my knife," I pulled out my blade. "Your wound would heal over after I pulled it out. You're a _living_ vampire, not a _dead_ human."

Rosalie looked away from me and walked out of the garage. She was reviewing our chat in her head as she made her way off to her room to ask Emmet to go hunting with her.

* * *

"I understand you had quite a talk with Rosalie," Carlisle noted from his desk as I flipped through his volumes of vampire history and knowledge. I put the book down on a table and turned to him.

"Yes, I did." I said. I took a seat at the front of his desk and leaned back. This was beginning to be a habit of mine, talking with Carlisle. He was extremely knowledgeable on…well, everything. Especially vampires. I knew practically everything there was to know about the human body, so moving up the food chain was the next logical step. "And she's not the only one of your 'children' who is a little messed up."

"You're speaking of Edward," he said as a statement. I nodded.

"I think it's kind of funny that he thinks he has no soul." I said.

"You believe he does?" Carlisle raised his eyebrows. His thoughts drifted back to his numerous debates over the subject of heaven, hell, and vampires.

"There is currently no scientific evidence on the existence of a soul," I said, sounding like I was reading off a textbook. "I think it's hilarious that the _ginger_ vampire is the one with a soul problem – as if the odds weren't already stacked against him."

Carlisle's lips pursed as he tried to keep from laughing, but I could hear his internal chuckle. _What do you really want to talk about?_

"Perceptive," I noted. "I wanted to ask you about perhaps – in the future – providing me with a few samples for my research."

"What kind of research?" He asked, but I could tell he already knew. After all I was just reading a book on vampire physiology.

"Vampire biology," I answered. "My ability…at times it's like being chained to a comet. It's a very obsessive compulsive oriented gift. Right now it's telling me I need to figure out everything about vampires." I shrugged. "I've pretty much exhausted the human body in terms of what I can learn."

_I'll think about it._ Carlisle thought to me. It really didn't make much difference to me. I'd get what I wanted one way or another, and I'd eventually have to dissect a vampire anyway to complete my mental index. I could get my samples from the unlucky soul I would dismember. _Are you really capable of fixing Billy Black's nerve damage?_

"Yes. I won't know _exactly_ how until I have him on the slab, so to speak, but it's not so far off from my HLV serum."

"No, I suppose not." Carlisle murmured, his mind drifting off into the repercussions of extending a human's life indefinitely. I took this as my cue to leave.

"Thanks for the talk," I said as I stood up and exited his study.

* * *

**End Notes:** Yes, this chapter is way shorter than usual. The reason: I added it in after I was already mostly finished with the story. The final count on chapters will be 16 + an epilogue.


	11. Come At Me Bro

**-Chapter 11: Come At Me Bro-**

"Please?" Alice begged.

"No." I replied in a final tone.

_Please! Come on, I never told Carlisle or Esme about Port Angeles!_

I crossed my arms and stared her down. "I will not wear a dress. I do not _do_ dresses. I'll wear what I always do: a t-shirt with cargo pants – no heels!" I amended as I heard what she was planning to spring on me. "I'll let you pick the color of the shirt."

"But come on! You'll look great in a dress, I've seen it." She finished with a pout, though it came off as something of a standard issued expression for her.

_Definitely_, Edward commented from somewhere in the house.

"I've agreed to show up at your party when I could be elsewhere having more fun; that is _more_ than enough. Go find someone else to play dress up with." I exited my room and went downstairs into the kitchen to grab a soda before I went to go set up the downstairs area. It was graduation night tonight, and Alice was throwing a huge party afterward at their house. I had originally told everyone I'd stay out of sight and go off to Port Angeles again, but Esme insisted that I be there while Alice and Edward didn't want me off murdering people. It was a bit backward, a family of vampires who would be upset at me _not_ going to kill some random person for fun.

_Carlisle and Esme would be upset,_ Edward thought to me.

That woman is practically a saint. I'll admit I would probably feel a little guilty if I were to disappoint her, which is a little fucked up considering my lifestyle.

_You could stay here, you know. Esme already thinks of you as one of her children, though I'm not sure she realizes it herself._

Well, it certainly wouldn't be boring living with vampires. Hey, what's with all the heart-to-heart? Usually you're off protecting Bella from me in case I decide to murder her.

_Bella defended you, if you can believe it – I promised her I would give you a chance. Did you realize you don't reach for your knife anymore when one of us gets close to you? Your shield isn't up all the time anymore, either. You trust us, whether you want to or not, and believe it or not the rest of us trust you too. Well, most of us. _An image of Rosalie and Jasper arguing over me popped up before he shook it from his thoughts.

I didn't bother to comment as I downed the rest of my soda and dumped the can in the trash, before heading off to look for something to do.

* * *

The guests had just started arriving in force. Small trickles of teenagers came in at first, and then larger waves as the hour went on. Their thoughts revealed their excitement at seeing where the Cullens lived. Alice had talked me into wearing a light grey button-down shirt to wear instead of a t-shirt, but I had won on the dress with heels issue. I was actually kind of glad I didn't skip the party, the Cullens were awesome hosts and the music was loud. It felt very relaxed, not at all like the horror show I knew she could put on all by herself.

The 'official story' was that I was a family friend from another state, who came to visit. A few of the guests wondered who I was, never having seen me in such a small town, but hardly any of them approached me to ask. I said nearly, because a boy by the name of Mike Newton seemed to take it upon himself to try to introduce me to everyone and get me more involved in the dancing part of the party. The girl he came with, Jessica, was not amused, and neither was I.

Eventually I heard the words 'bloodsuckers' somewhere in the sea of thoughts, though it seemed to be coming from outside. Sure enough, Jacob walked through the front door with two other wolves. Rosalie's volatile thoughts rang out over the others, and I had to crack a smile at how she actually preferred my company over someone else's. Bella didn't look happy to see them at all, actually; probably because she broke her hand on his face. I turned to go head outside to get away from all these thoughts when I was hit with one of Alice's visions.

_"They'll be protecting a human girl," a male voice said. The images were not completely solid – shapes fading in and out and the outlines of the vision feathered outward into blackness. "First one to find her gets her." There were snarls of appreciation and excitement as a red shirt was passed around the numerous newborn vampires. I searched the crowd, noting that I could not find the beautiful young vampire girl I tried to kill._

_It was on my second pass through that I saw him. I didn't recognize his face at first – it was more perfected and the eyes were definitely the wrong color. But there was no mistaking my brother, he was alive and one with the program it seemed. He took his turn with the red shirt and breathed deeply, looking every bit the monster as the vampire girl was._

_The vision shifted; now the group – army – was attacking Forks. The battle itself was somewhat blurry, but I could tell nearly half of the town's residents were killed off. We would win, it seemed, but one of the Cullens would die. Most of the time it was Esme, but Emmet and Carlisle's deaths also shimmered in and out of existence in the fog of the vision. I couldn't see Ryan anywhere now. Suddenly, the entirety of it imploded on itself and the vision collapsed._

"Emily, are you OK?" Newton asked me, a hand _lovingly_ placed on my shoulder. I shook him off and darted to the staircase, where Bella stood near Alice.

"What did you see?" Bella questioned.

"Not here." Alice replied, motioning up the stairs.

_What in the hell is that?_ Jasper thought. _All that hope and fear…_ His thoughts trailed off as I walked in the room and I realized he was taking in my emotional state. _Oh. Mighty strange levels of emotions you're putting out there, Emily._

The Cullens and Bella were all gathered around the room that I had surprisingly never entered before; it was some sort of common area. Jacob and his wingmen stood as close to the doorway as they could as everyone – well, everyone without amazing powers – waited for someone to speak.

"The decision has been made." Alice said, her eyes still unfocussed as she continuously searched the future. The thoughts in the room exploded into different conclusions – some correct, some assuming the Volturi, and others expecting Victoria. "The newborns – they're coming here to Forks."

"Excellent!" Emmet exclaimed. _Finally some fun around here._

"How many?" Carlisle asked.

"Over twenty," Alice responded. "The numbers keep changing – they're fighting amongst themselves."

Panicked, I reviewed the visions Alice had to make sure Ryan was still in them. Thankfully he was.

_Don't worry; we'll help your brother._ Edward mentally assured me.

"Wait, what the hell is going on?" Jacob cut in.

"An army of newborn vampires," Carlisle explained to Jacob. "They're the ones who have been behind the murders in Seattle. Any idea what they're after?" He asked the last part to Alice.

"They were passing around Bella's shirt." Alice replied. Oh. So the Cullens were the target…or was it Bella, herself?

My ability started crunching the data. Someone was out to kill Bella and possibly the Cullens. Someone she's met, obviously. The Volturi? No, not directly; they wouldn't risk exposure to hide behind an army. They would kill the Cullens themselves. Hiding? Someone is hiding behind an army. Victoria? She wasn't seen in any visions of the future, but according to Edward she is after Bella directly for her mate's death. There are holes, but without more data Victoria keeps popping up as the puppet master.

_Bella thought the same thing._ Edward said to me.

"…get yourselves killed!" Bella exclaimed. I could tell I missed a large part of the conversation. The wolves wanted to fight? Excellent – wait, I needed to make them aware of my brother's survival.

"We'll need to learn how to fight newborns – Jasper has experience in this area." Carlisle said seemingly to himself. He glanced at Jacob. "Do you think Sam would agree to a…training session?"

"What time do you need us there?" He replied with a prideful voice.

"Three AM?" he questioned, glancing around for any objections. Jacob nodded and moved to the exit.

"Jacob," I called. He turned around and glanced at me in question. "My brother is a part of that army. He wasn't killed." A few of the Cullens behind me gasped, but I wasn't paying them any attention. I tuned into the three wolves' thoughts.

_Leech. Dead-. Discussing. It's not her brother any more. Kill it all the same…_

Without twitching a muscle, I tossed all three wolves into the wall and held them there. The wall groaned in protest as they were pressed by the invisible pressure. "I will kill _anyone_ who harms him."

Esme gasped while the vampires in the room stiffened. I felt Jasper's calming influence seeping into the room, but I held them still. "Emily…" Carlisle started. I shook my head and looked back at the wolves, who were currently straining to get themselves free. I raised my eyebrows, waiting for Jacob to comment.

"If she attacks with the rest of the leeches we won't have a choice." Jacob spat out. With one fluid motion, I brought out my knife and drilled it into Jacob's left shoulder before driving my fist into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him and keeping him from shouting out. A red stain started to creep outward on Jacob's upper arm underneath his shirt.

"You probably won't be able to do anything against him anyway if he's still himself enough to use his ability – he'll crush you from a distance." I said, retracting my knife from his shoulder and letting the three of them drop to the ground. "I'll deal with my brother, but don't think I won't kill you if you engage him."


	12. Immunization

**-Chapter 12: Immunization-**

Things were touch and go there for a while at the mansion. Jacob and his two pack members left to go inform Sam about the training session, though he looked hesitant to turn his back on me. The party winded down shortly after; thankfully no one noticed a bleeding native kid exiting the Cullen mansion. That could be a little bad for their anonymity.

Almost word for word, like Edward said, Carlisle and Esme were quick to invite Ryan and myself to stay here with them. Once everyone learned of my brother's survival, it was pretty much unanimous – with the strikingly obvious exception of Rosalie – that the family would take in Ryan and teach him to control his thirst. From Rosalie's thoughts I could tell she respected the loyalty I showed to my brother; it just wasn't enough to warrant another complication in her life – she could barely stand Bella as it was. Jasper was wary of me – as is to be expected – but Alice's influence inevitably swayed him.

"Ready for that rematch, Ambrose?" Emmet asked, breaking me out of my thoughts. I pulled my knife out of the stream of water flowing from the kitchen faucet and inspected it for any blood. It looked clean, so I turned the water off and sheathed my knife before turning around.

"You must really love dirt or something, Emmet," I taunted. "Maybe I'll toss you into some trees this time – mix things up a bit." Emmet scowled as I brushed past him and headed outside.

"Edward is meeting us there with Bella," Alice said. The only other Cullen there was Jasper; I guess the other three were already there. "Follow us." With that, they darted off into the trees. I kicked off the ground and flew after them.

* * *

The clearing I followed them to was quite large – several football fields in both length and width. Though it was dark, I could tell there were several hundred wildflowers in bloom around the field. The Cullens plus Bella stood about twenty yards away; in the distance I could pick up the minds of the pack. It was strange, the hive mind of the Quileute wolves. I strolled over to the vampires and listened as Edward explained that the wolves had been holding back on the size of their pack.

Jasper's instructions on the destruction of newborn vampires were kind of pointless for me. They were also kind of obvious as long as one knew the logistics of it all. They were _much_ stronger and faster than a 'seasoned' vampire, and usually went for the straight on attacks – brute force, if you will. Step one: don't let them get their arms around you. Yeah, I kind of don't plan on touching them at all. I may be able to kick a werewolf's ass in hand to hand combat, but even my enhanced strength and speed are miniscule compared to a vampire. I would be relying on my special abilities in combat as opposed to the physical.

The second rule was to not go for the obvious kill. Or we…would lose. His speech was very dramatic and I'm sure the wolves learned a lot from the demonstration the Cullens put on, but it was once again a useless piece of advice for me. A human girl wielding a hunting knife, capable of holding and ripping vampires apart with her mind, would be the antithesis of obvious. My shield, I knew, could withstand a newborn's attack, so it wasn't really dangerous for me.

But the wolves still wanted to see what I could do against a vampire.

Alice was selected to be my opponent. Everyone – myself included – was impressed by her easy win against Jasper. The small girl moved so fast I couldn't even see the action, and her gift made her practically a ghost in the wind against anything Jasper threw at her. Jacob's thoughts were conflicted on the match up. On one hand, he was angry at me for stabbing him – that's understandable, getting stabbed would probably hurt a lot. On the other hand, if I were to die, Billy would have absolutely no chance at ever walking again. Sam eventually assured him that it was better I go up against one vampire now and find out I could not defeat them, than to die in a battle with twenty newborns. They really had no clue how invincible I was.

The fight started and I already had my shield in place, bubbled out a meter from my body. Alice had yet to move; she closed her eyes as she did against her husband. I raised my hand and shot my knife at her from the hip, the blade whistling through the air, only to find purchase in the tree behind where Alice was standing moments before. She grinned at me as I retracted the knife in an elliptical path, aiming for her on the return pass. She dodged again.

Mentally, she was reciting a recipe for chocolate cake. Well damn, no help from Edward either. I decided to pull her toward me with my telekinesis, but she suddenly blurred out of sight to reappear to my left. She raised her hand to strike, and I saw in her mind herself bouncing off my shield. She hesitated, then bounced away to her starting point.

I made the decision to throw my knife at her again, but changed my mind at the last second and blasted her with my telekinesis. She flew into a tree, snapping it in half. I tilted the tree with my mind so it fell outside our fighting area while I waited for Alice to recover. She blurred into focus, her mind full of shock. I grinned before letting out a barrage of false decisions. Fly up – throw knife – toss with telekinesis – hold still. And around and around we go. Her eyes glazed over, her mind attempting to keep up with my entropy.

And then suddenly the training area was gone. Replaced by darkness – coldness. The door opened and my eyes were flooded with light. I was crying, but I could not remember why.

_"It's time for your treatment, Mary. Are you going to cooperate or do I have to sedate you again?"_

_My body shook in fear, but I did not reply._

I shook my head and my eyes blurred back into focus. I was kneeling on the ground with Alice and Carlisle crouched down next to me.

_"Emily, are you alright? What happened?" Carlisle asked._

_"She acquired Alice's power." Edward answered. "She got a glimpse of Alice's past in the asylum. It was…well it's a blessing she can't remember what happened to her."_

My eyes blurred back into focus again. Carlisle and Alice crouched down to my level – again.

"I took Alice's power." I replied. Alice's mouth dropped open, before she grinned widely. Carlisle's eyebrows shot up into his forehead.

"Fascinating," he commented.

I stood up and shook my head. The wolves were all looking at me – hell, everyone was looking at me. "It was my own fault," I said. "I started to rapidly change decisions…I guess I accidentally started to understand how her power worked."

"But with Edward you had to concentrate to copy his power," Alice retorted, scrunching up her nose in confusion.

"I think it's because of Edward's power I was able to take yours so easily." I said. "Reading minds isn't as…comprehensive as my usual method, but it seems to make the process easier."

"But what happens if one of the newborns has a power out on the field?" Jasper questioned me. "Or what if you take mine? You were down for less than two seconds, but that's more than enough time for someone to finish you off."

I tried searching the future using my new ability, but found it blank. The wolves! Of course. There was no way to check to see if I would unintentionally absorb another power during the fight. "It's a risk I'm going to take. There's no way I'm sitting out of the fight." I explained with conviction. "And as for taking _your_ power, Jasper, we can take care of that problem before the battle."

_Wait. Are we missing something here?_ Jacob whined, unable to talk in his wolf form.

"Emily's ability," Edward started to explain to the wolves. "Well, it's difficult to explain…but the simplest version is that she can take on the abilities of those around her."

That's one hell of a simplification, Edward.

He cracked a half smile in response.

"We're supposed to fight with her?" Rosalie spat out, giving me her best care bear stare. "She's going to get us killed. If not by the Volturi then from her having one of those spas-attacks during the fight." At the mention of the Volturi, Edward's thoughts went to Bella, and how she faced off against Aro and Jane without their powers affecting her. Mental powers had no effect on her, and the thought made my ability whirr to life.

"Bella," I started, ignoring the small argument Rosalie was having with the rest of her family about me.

Edward growled and narrowed his eyes at me. "You can forget it." He said thorough clenched teeth.

"Yes?" Bella questioned from her place on the ground. She was using the huge Jacob wolf as a pillow.

"Would you allow me to…acquire your power?"

"My power?" She questioned, her eyebrows scrunching together.

_No. No no no. You won't hurt her._

"I don't need to hurt her, thanks to Carlisle's idea and your power," I answered out loud. Jacob narrowed his large eyes at me. "Her shield could block the surge of memories I get when I get a new ability."

"And what if it doesn't? You said it yourself," Edward replied, raising his voice. I made sure to secure my shield. "You have no idea how your own ability even works!"

Jasper's calming waves hit him and his shoulders slouched slightly. "Even if it doesn't work," I said, raising my hands to show I didn't mean any harm, "her gift would be extremely useful to me. What if one of the newborns has a power of their own, like Alec or Jane?"

Edward flinched visibly, while the Cullens cringed.

"I'll do it." Bella said, her voice soft, but with a tone of conviction. I nodded and strolled over to where she sat.

"Bella, love, you don't have to do this." Edward said, blurring over to her and kneeling down. Jacob growled loudly at his close proximity but did not get up.

"It's not like it will hurt her, Edward." I tried to reason. Honestly, his protective nature was really wearing on my nerves. "Besides, after I have her ability you won't have to worry about me killing her. I would already have what I want."

_Fine._

I nodded and sat down cross legged in front of her. I let my ability loose upon her, holding back the urge to kill. Her mind was completely silent – no ringing or white noise, or cavity – it was like she was not there at all. I pushed harder, but still nothing.

_"Should I do something specific?" Bella asked._

_"No." I replied._

Bella opened her mouth to ask her question, but I shook my head and answered her before she asked. Just like I had learned, only _mental_ gifts were blocked by her mind. Alice and Jasper had no problem with their powers. I fed this information into the swirling depths that was my ability. It digested the data and spit back up a potential solution. Like Alice's precognition to the wolves, so was Edward's telepathy to Bella. All I needed to do was _see_ around her.

I turned up Edward's gift and picked up every thought around me – save for the girl in front of me. Their thoughts rippled out like sonar, less clear the further out I went. I focused on the negative space that was Bella's mind and pushed. And suddenly I had it. Her shield was so similar to the physical one I already had. But yet completely different. It was always on – I could feel the protection and safety wrapping my mind as my brain connected the correct synapses together to mimic her gift.

The memories started to flow and my mind grew hazy. But unlike before, I pushed it back – like one would shield their eyes from the harsh light of the sun with their hand. It was not perfect, and I caught a few stray thoughts and memories, but the haze folded back. This time I did not collapse.

I turned my head to Edward and lifted an eyebrow. He tilted his head downward to listen.

_I can't hear you._

I smiled and stood back up.

"Thank you." I told Bella. I found I actually meant it.


	13. There'll Be Another Time

**-Chapter 13: There'll be Another Time-**

The next night went much smoother than the first – well, from my point of view at least. Most of the wolves agreed to leave my brother for me, but others wouldn't even consider the notion of sparing one of the newborns. Luckily, Sam had the good sense to issue an alpha order for the pack to ignore my brother during the fight. I had brought along a photo of him to show everyone – albeit he was much paler and had red eyes now – so they knew who to watch out for.

Jasper had offered up his ability to me as well, even though I could acquire powers without being overloaded now. It had been an _interesting_ acquisition, to be sure, but I saw the merit in it. He had himself and Emmet attacking me at the same time, to test how well I could yank a power while simultaneously fighting. It was extremely difficult, to be sure. Jasper didn't play fair, either; he would pump me full of frustration and anger to make me lose my focus. It took three tries before I could manipulate emotions as well.

* * *

"NO!" Emmet cried, shaking as he held his controller, sobbing. "Why are we losing! They're on the r-rocket sp-spawn…" Emmet wiped a nonexistent tear from his face as he took a ragged breath in.

_This is just _too_ good._ Alice thought from where she sat watching Emmet on the couch. I sat next to him, seemingly doing nothing. I smirked at her and cranked up the sadness in the room next to Emmet.

"Emmet, your team just lost the game. I'm really sorry, man." I told him, pushing out excitement and humor in his direction.

"I don't give a shit!" Emmet bellowed, dropping the controller as he tossed his head back in laughter.

"Emmet!" Esme scolded from another room. I pushed fear and guilt into Emmet.

"Oh my God, I am _so_ sorry, Esme!" he said, swallowing. He kind of looked like he wanted to quake in fear and beg for forgiveness at the same time. I couldn't hold it in any longer as I let out a stream of giggles. Jasper bolted from the room, cursing me mentally for the overflow of emotion in the room.

_Emily, could you come to my office, please?_ Carlisle asked from upstairs. I nodded, then realized he could not see me from his office. I got up off the couch and made my way up the stairs.

"Have a seat." Carlisle said, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk as I entered the room. "I see you're enjoying your new abilities."

"I am." I said, leaning back and smiling.

Carlisle smiled and put his hands on his desk. I could tell this was going to be a serious talk.

"That's good," he started, "but I actually need to talk with you about something else."

"What about the Volturi?" I asked, seeing what he wanted to talk to me about.

"How much do you know about them?" Carlisle asked.

"Just what you've told me," I said. "And also what I've picked out of your heads. Why? I thought they weren't involved with the newborn army."

I checked the future.

_Smoke covered the field. We all seemed to be intact. Ryan was safe too – growling on the ground behind our group. Suddenly, four shapes emerged from the tree line – vampires, of course. They glided across the field in black cloaks, and the vision ended._

"You saw them as well?" I nodded. Carlisle sighed. "Alice has been getting flickers of the Volturi's decision to show up after the battle has taken place."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say they don't like you very much, Carlisle," I said. "It's awfully convenient for them to show up right after the fight."

"I agree," Carlisle said reluctantly. I could tell from his thoughts and emotions that he didn't want to believe the Volturi were behind the army, but the proof demanded the hypothesis to be considered. "Which brings up another problem."

I cocked an eyebrow and waited for him to gather his thoughts.

"The Volturi, if they show up, will most definitely report your existence to Aro. It is against our laws for a human to know of our existence. Bella was very lucky to make a deal with them to be changed in the future. I have no idea what they will do if…when they find out about you."

"They will probably try to recruit me." I suggested. "Honestly, I don't see any situation where they wouldn't – even without Alice's gift. From how you describe Aro, he and I seem a lot alike."

Carlisle shook his head to argue, but I cut him off.

"I'm a serial killer, Carlisle." I said straight off. "I know from your thoughts you know this. I know you know about what I did to that man in Port Angeles, and you already know about how I used to gain new abilities. We're different in that I don't require the gifted individual to remain alive to add their ability to my collection, but we're both greedy murderers nonetheless."

_There's good in you, as well. I've seen it in how you interact with our family._

"I have been going a bit soft lately," I joked, shifting in my seat. "But really, he's slobbered after Edward and Alice for how long? And now here I am, with both their abilities and more. He'll want me. And when he can't have me, he'll try to kill me."

Carlisle's thoughts were pondering what I told him. I could tell he agreed with what I said, but he didn't want to voice it aloud.

"Let's take this one step at a time. Deal with the newborn army and get my brother back; then we'll – I'll deal with whatever the Volturi want from me." I gave him a pointed stare to let him know to move on.

"There's also the issue with your brother." Carlisle started, brimming with nervousness. "There's no way to tell how much he remembers of his human life. Human memories fade; he may not remember you at all, or maybe only vaguely."

"It doesn't matter to me," I shook my head. "He's still my brother, amnesia or not, and I won't let anything happen to him."

I got up and headed back to my room to take a shower and go to bed. Tomorrow was the big day.

* * *

One of the great things about living with filthy rich vampires is the never-ending supply of hot water. It's _very_ enjoyable. I had spent the last twenty minutes letting the hot water spray onto my back while I searched for my brother's future. Ever since I had taken Alice's ability, I had began to keep tabs on him. It seemed like the newborns were preparing for a feast before marching toward Forks.

_They were in the water, which had to be freezing cold, looking at a large ferry boat in the distance. Hunger was apparent in Ryan's eyes, but he – like the rest – made no move toward the boat. The lights on the boat went out, suddenly, and it was like a green light on the murder track. They were like piranhas, the way they thrashed toward the floating dinner plate. The screaming started then._

_Ryan went down below the top deck, where most of the newborns started to feed. He was smart, knowing which way the humans would flee. He moved like a blur – so fast that outside a vision I would not see him move at all. He burst through a bathroom door, where a small family was hiding, and snapped the children's necks before lunging after the mother and father._

I smiled. Ryan always was a sucker for kids. I had been watching some of the other less civilized newborns as well, and I knew immediately why he went for the children. It was a merciful death. There was absolutely no question that every human on board the ferry would die, and the ones who died first were the lucky ones. They were the ones who were spared the agonizing minutes of terror. Ryan was still in there somewhere, I was sure.

I focused on Bella and Edward, but of course I didn't get anything. They, along with Jacob, were spending the night in a tent after having planted Bella's blood around the field we wanted the newborns to come to. Edward had opted to sit out of the fight with Bella – he had recently proposed and were to be married at the end of the summer. We had more than enough firepower to deal with the army, and it was a good idea to have someone with Bella in case there was trouble – which tended to happen with her.

Beginning to feel overheated, I stepped out of the shower and got dressed in some sort of silk pajamas. They were pink. I wasn't amused by Alice's choice of color, but it was getting late and I needed my sleep. I made sure my alarm was set to wake me up in time to fly over to the battle field, turned off the light to my room, and climbed into bed.

* * *

**End Notes:** I have officially finished the story. It's as I said, 16 chapters with an epilogue at the end. Now all you have to do is wait for me to upload it. I've also submitted the story to Twilighted. I have no idea if it'll be accepted, but it can't hurt to try.


	14. Welcome to the Thunderdome

**-Chapter 14: Welcome to the Thunderdome-**

Light was only just able to filter through the clouds when I arrived in the field. Alice was searching the future – nothing new there – while Jasper hovered over her, ready to rip apart any newborn to approach her. Rosalie wasn't inspecting her nails for once – though that may be because there were no reflective surfaces around. Emmet looked – and felt – stoked out of his mind to fight; he wore a superior grin. Esme and Carlisle were standing together holding hands and looking off toward where the newborns would be coming from.

_Oh my…what is that smell? Is that the pet?_

_Blood blood blood._

_Mine!_

"I hear their thoughts." I called out. Deep growls echoed through the trees – the wolves were waiting to ambush the newborns as they ran toward us. The Cullens took in a shallow 'v' formation and stood erect, waiting. I pulled out my knife and gave it a spin as my shield fell into place. "Here they come."

There was nothing graceful about their appearance, unlike the Cullens. They were blindingly fast, yes, but with that speed came a sort of wild and untamed jerkiness to their movements. It was like watching a zombie attack in fast-forward.

A large newborn flashed toward me with a feral grin, arms outstretched to grasp me, only to be reflected away by my shield. I quickly hovered him vertically above the ground and speared his neck with my knife. His head fell to the ground as I withdrew my blade.

_Mine!_ A mind shouted behind me. I turned and caught the scrappy newborn that was lunging at me with telekinesis, he hung in the air for half a second snarling and snapping at me. Using my shield as a wrecking ball while I held him in place, I thrust it outward. The air rippled as the field burst on contact, sending body parts whistling back and embedding themselves in trees. One of his legs hit a female, sending her toppling into the jaws of a wolf.

Another came at me. I drove my knife under his chin and into his mouth cavity; I twisted my arm and pulled – his head detached. I bent down to get my knife and did not see the vampire approaching me from the other side. A searing pain shot through my left arm and my shield pushed out in reflex, sending the white blur backward.

"Bitch!" I yelled. I took a deep breath and targeted every part of the newborn's body my mind could manage. The vampire – a brown headed teenage boy – opened his eyes wide when he realized he could not move a muscle. I let out a scream and pulled with all my might. When I opened my eyes, a thin sprinkling of dust covered the grass – it sparkled as a ray of sunshine hit it.

I retracted my knife to my hand and suddenly gasped in pain. My left arm felt like it was on fire! I raised the limb to get a look and saw dark red blood seeping from a crescent shaped bite mark above my elbow. I holstered my knife and grasped my wound with my right hand. Oh god, it's the venom!

"Fuck!" I exclaimed. There wasn't any time to waste, though. I would rather be a vampire with a brother than a human without one.

Come on, come on, where are you? I needed to get to higher ground – air – in order to see better. I leaped into the air and hovered fifty feet above the ground. It looks like we are winning, over half the newborns were dispatched. A jolt of fear shot threw me at the thought my brother may have been one of the 'dispatched.' Shaking my head and clenching my teeth, I tuned into the thought-tornado below me.

_Boom! Ha, dead._

_Left. Right. Evade. Decapitate._

_Esme! NO!_

I turned in the direction of the thought and the thick cloud of panic whipping past me. There he was, fighting Esme, of all people. His form was shifting in and out through the pain of the venom. Esme was pinned to the ground by nothing, with my pale-skinned brother bending down to decapitate her.

"Ryan!" I shouted, wrapping my shield around me tightly and dive bombing into my brother. He snarled as my shield popped, sending him soaring into the trees. A wolf jumped in after Ryan. I caught him mid-air and slammed him into the ground. Something snapped – hopefully it was his leg and not his neck.

From the thoughts and emotions in the field, I could tell we had won already. Only one or two newborns remained besides my brother. A twig snapped under my foot as I ran into the trees after him. Ryan was crouched, visibly shaking as he stared at me. Not at my eyes – at my wound. I pushed a cloud of calm and peacefulness at him while resetting my shield. But there was no way I could fight him like this.

I dropped my shield and concentrated on Ryan's body. I took hold of him and flung him back onto the field. "CARLISLE!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, my voice cracked at the end. I stumbled back past the tree and watched my brother get back up, ready to lunge at me. Ready to feed. I fell to my knees, but I took Ryan with me to the ground.

"We have him!" A voice exclaimed. I could not see any more. My hand was still on the bite mark. Wait, I remember from Edward's thoughts that he sucked the venom out of Bella's hand. I could do that!

I kept my muscles locked – knowing if I relaxed for a moment I would lose all control of my body. Without taking a breath I focused my mind on the venom in my body – on my bloodstream. And like an industrial snakebite kit, I pulled it out. It bubbled and singed as it contacted my skin, but the pain was nothing like the inferno on the inside. I pulled harder, refusing to give in. Eventually – it might have been seconds or minutes, I could not tell – the pain disappeared, replaced with the singing of the venom on my bare skin.

* * *

I took deep breaths as I sat on the ground. The air was permeated with a sweet incense smell – but it was too thick to be pleasant. Cold arms gently prodded and tugged on my left arm. The skin surrounding my wound felt like it had been branded. Ha, I probably wasn't too far off. Carlisle's thoughts invaded my mind; he was bandaging my arm. I had gotten the venom out.

"Ryan?" I whispered, not even bothering to open my eyes.

_Safe._ Alice thought to me. _Jasper has him pretty much sedated._ I watched my brother through her eyes. He looked almost drugged, his head leaning to the side, completely immobile.

I opened my eyes after a few minutes and surveyed the damage. The field looked…well, it looked like a battle took place. Deep gorges scarred the ground and a few craters were visible as well. There was one main fire still smoldering, the purple smoke rising up into the sky; two other smaller ones were visible off to the far end of the field.

"Are you OK?" Bella's voice sounded from my right. I turned to look at her. She was leaning against Edward and seemed to feel as tired as I was.

Suddenly, I was hit with images of a redheaded vampire with her newborn minion fighting with a wolf and whoever's thoughts I was reading. Edward? Yes. Well, it seems like Bella had an exciting time as well.

"I'm fine," I said, pulling myself to my feet and holding my wound. It was only throbbing now thanks to my accelerated healing. "And yourself?"

"Doing better than you," she joked, trying to lighten the mood.

I was about to tell her it was only a flesh wound, when I picked up the thoughts of four others approaching fast.

_Volturi…_ Edward thought to himself.

I looked over to my brother's incapacitated form and gritted my teeth. Jane was with the group that was coming. Bella didn't know it – actually, I'm the only one who did – but her gift could do a lot more than serve as personal protection from mental attacks. Fully developed, she would be able to cover those in the immediate area with her shield – anyone she chose could be immune to Jane and Alec's powers.

Her ability _was_ fully developed in me, though. If I protected the Cullens and my brother from the Volturi, they would try to recruit me; and when I wouldn't join them they would try to kill me. If I played the weak human – If I played Bella's role, they would try to kill me. The Volturi were strong in number but especially in ability, and I found myself wanting that power. I would not join them – my personality didn't really thrive in working under someone – but I _would_ want to meet them. Meet them, and acquire them. I shivered at the thought of wielding the power of the strongest vampires in the world.

Everyone was worried and nervous as the four guard members glided up to us – exactly like in the vision – and most of their thoughts went to my brother and I. The Volturi didn't give second chances, Edward's thoughts whispered, and Ryan would probably be destroyed for being a part of the newborn army. They would have to go through me first.

"Hmm," a bored voice rang out. I couldn't quite see her yet, but I recognized her from the Cullen's thoughts as Jane.

"Welcome, Jane." Edward said in a normal voice, no hint of the venomous thoughts he directed toward her in his voice.

The four of them – Demetri, Jane, Alec, and Felix, I learned from Carlisle's thoughts – stopped several meters in front of us. Jane's eyes swept past the Cullens and Bella before hovering over me. I focused, expanding my personal protective shield – as well as Bella's mental one – across our entire group.

_Did they adopt another human? Caius will love to hear about this._ Jane thought. The other three had similar lines of thinking. Her eyes continued to my brother, who was 'awake' now, but still in a sitting position in front of Jasper.

"I don't understand." Jane spoke to our group, moving her eyes back and forth between Ryan and me.

"The situation is…complicated," Carlisle answered. _Emily, are you certain you want your story revealed to them?_ I nodded. "Emily's brother," he gestured to Ryan, "was transformed and brought into Victoria's army. Emily assisted my family and myself in the destruction of the newborns, with the agreement that her brother was to be spared."

"Victoria?" Jane questioned.

"She created the army," Edward said, tilting his head toward the mountains. A small purple tendril of smoke could be seen in the distance. "She was taken care of as well."

"A _human_ assisted in the destruction of a newborn army?" _What a joke. He was still a part of the army and will be destroyed._

"Yes." I answered simply.

_Impossible, she is almost as frail as Edward's still-human pet. _Jane grinned inwardly as she imagined torturing the information out of Ryan and me. "There are no options for those who break the rules." She sent a predatory glare at my brother and me.

Carlisle's nervousness spiked. "As you wish." _Emily, please don't attack them…_

I sent Carlisle a wave of reassurance and protectiveness. I would not directly attack them – physically, that is. He nodded at me and we both turned to see what Jane would do – or try to do.

"It appears that you've done our work for us today," Jane said, and directed her gaze to my brother. "For the most part. Out of curiosity, how many were there? They did quite a bit of damage in Seattle." _We gave them every chance and yet the Cullens are _still_ alive._

"Eighteen, including Ryan." Carlisle answered, gesturing to my brother.

"Impressive." _Too impressive._

She was planning on torturing the information out of my brother. Bitch! I focused on her mind, ready to yank her ability for myself the moment she concentrated on using it.

"You there, Ryan," she spoke to my brother. His thoughts turned to panic and his eyes widened. He thought he was going to die. "Is what they said true? How many of you were there?"

His eyes darted to me as he remembered who I was. He said nothing, refusing to help Jane. Jane grinned widely and her eyes flashed. Suddenly there was a pressure surrounding my mental shield. I replayed her thoughts in my mind, concentrating on what she did to her other victims. It was much easier to acquire than Bella or Edward's gifts. It was actually kind of funny; without knowing it Jane had given me an extremely powerful weapon against her.

Jane's thoughts turned to confusion before swirling into rage; the other guard were wary, their eyes shifting from Jane to Ryan. She turned and glared at Bella, believing she was the one to blame – which, in a way she was. The Cullen's thoughts were also confused – they all had a very good idea what Jane could do.

"Your powers won't work with me," I taunted, tapping the side of my head. "But you shouldn't have to ask my brother how many newborns there were. Why didn't you ask Victoria when you talked with her a few days ago?"

It was kind of hilarious. Her mind actually blanked out for a second; kind of like a computer being reset. She snarled at me and I laughed out loud. Mentally, she was thinking of ways to destroy me – she was close to having her guard simply destroy the entirety of our group to be done with us. But she was conflicted – Aro would figure out what she had done and who she had killed. He would be _very_ interested in someone who could block abilities.

"Caius will be _so_ interested to learn that not only is Bella still human, but you have let another one in on our secret."

"The date is set," Alice chimed in.

"And it's really your fault I found out about vampires if you think about it," I added. "If your guard would have done their job and killed off the newborns, instead of betting on them to destroy the Cullens, I would be none-the-wiser."

"Emily," Carlisle said softly, "if the Volturi had knowledge of the newborn army, they would have taken care of it themselves. Isn't that right, Jane?" I could tell he didn't really believe what he was saying. He knew I could hear what she was thinking.

"Of course," she replied, appearing slightly offended by the notion. "Felix, take care of that," she gestured to my brother, "I want to go home."

_Emily, I love you and I'm sorry. Just kill me and leave her alone._ Ryan's seemingly last thoughts; he was resigned to his fate. I'm not sure if he couldn't remember how badass I was or if he overestimated a vampire's strength. The Cullens all looked to me in panic, seeing what I would do. I shook my head and crossed my arms over my chest.

Felix strutted forward, only to hit an invisible wall and stagger backward. He snarled at the air and started forward again – harder – only to run into the shield bubble. "I'm very sorry about your rules being broken, but I won't allow you to harm my brother." Demetri and Alec eyed the area Felix could not cross with measured eyes. Alec reached out to touch Jane, though he did not speak.

"I'm sure we'll see each other soon," Jane said, before the group of Volturi retreated into the tree line in a blur of motion.

Ryan was beginning to get nervous around all these new vampires. I'm sure Bella's scent mixed with mine wasn't helping at all, either. "Ryan," I said, drawing his blood-red eyes to me. "You can trust the Cullens. Let's go back to their house to talk about…things."

He nodded and I looked to Carlisle. "We'll head back, then. Edward, you should get Bella home. We don't want to stress Ryan's control."

"Come on, Bella," Edward said, gently positioning the girl on his back before running off in the direction of Forks.

* * *

**End Notes:** One of my favorite chapters to write (and officially the longest chapter in the story). Two more chapters and an epilogue to go.

The first chapter was also rejected by Twilighted for "Grammar", "Phrasing/sentence structure", "Punctuation", and "Spelling-hyphenated words." I won't be resubmitting.


	15. Post Game Stats

**-Chapter 15: Post Game Stats-**

"Still can't fly yet?" I taunted my brother as I landed a few yards away from him. Jasper and Emmet were flanking him, on guard and waiting for him to snap. I could hear Alice's frantic thoughts as she got another room ready for Ryan.

_I can't believe I forgot! Bella's wedding and the newborns and…oh, I wonder if he'll be able to be around Bella…_

"Afraid not," he spit out. He wasn't breathing. I could feel the blood lust flowing from him. It was far worse than anything the Cullens put out.

"You don't have to speak, save your breath," I said, tapping my temple. "I learned a few new tricks in my time with the Cullens; telepathy, pathokinesis, and precognition to name a few."

_You can hear me?_

"Yes, I can hear you."

Ryan's eyebrows scrunched together and he started to wonder how the Cullens were still alive if I 'learned' new abilities from them.

"Carlisle, the older blond one, helped me find a new way to take abilities. I don't need to kill people anymore."

That was probably the wrong thing to say. Ryan started going over the many deaths that were caused by his never ending thirst for blood. _I'm a murderer._

"You and me both," I joked. He didn't crack a smile. "Listen, that's another thing I wanted to talk to you about. Carlisle and his family feed off of animals, not humans. As I understand it animal blood tastes like tofu, or something, compared to real meat. But I thought you might want to give it a try."

Hope and joy were prominent emotions before nose diving into depression and self loathing. Jesus, my brother is practically another Edward. _All those people…and I could have drunk animals…_

"They offered us a place to stay," I added. "You – we – can stay here while you learn not to kill people. Alice, the short, energizer bunny type, is setting up a room for you. I suggest you go talk with Carlisle and maybe go hunt some animals or something."

* * *

"-and then she tossed your ass back into the field. Oh my God, your face!" Emmet let out another signature house-shaking bellow. Everyone sniggered at Ryan's eye roll.

Ryan had talked with Carlisle and Esme before going out with Jasper and Emmet to hunt some animals. Apparently deer doesn't taste very good, although I've never had venison. He had agreed to stay and learn to be a vegetarian, gold-eyed vampire; and now we were all back at in the living area of the mansion, discussing what happened during the battle and after. It was late, nearly 12:30 AM, but Bella and I were still up.

Apparently Jacob had gotten the right side of his body demolished by a newborn. Carlisle was allowed down on the reservation to tend to his injuries, as it wasn't safe to bring him to a normal doctor with a flaming-hot temperature. The rest of the pack was recovering back in La Push, so it was just the Cullens, Bella, Ryan and me.

"You got your ass kicked by your human sister," Emmet continued to taunt my newborn vampire brother. "_while_ she was burning from the venom."

"You got bitten?" Bella asked with a gasp.

I nodded and raised my sleeve; the completely healed-over scar was easily visible on my skin.

"What wolf went after Ryan?" I asked, pulling my sleeve down. I was pretty sure I didn't kill the dog, but I did warn them not to fuck with my brother.

"It was Paul," Bella answered from Edward's lap. "You broke all four of his legs. He's a little upset at you."

Suddenly Edward and I started laughing hysterically from the mental picture Emmet sent our way. He was imagining a gigantic werewolf with thick, white casts on each leg, stiffly lumbering along through the woods.

"Perhaps we should discuss what Emily and Edward learned from Jane," Jasper cut in, trying to keep a straight face, but failing from all the humor flowing through the room. He turned to me. "You said she knew about the newborn army?"

"She met with Victoria before the decision was made to bring the newborns here," I said. "She didn't _directly_ say it, but it was strongly implied Jane wanted you and your coven – family – gone."

"I can't believe that Aro would allow that," Carlisle shook his head.

"He would," Edward said. "His thoughts were consumed by the desire to have Alice and myself as part of his guard. Add to that Bella's immunity to mental gifts and the size of our family, and I'm not surprised at all. I know you want to see the good in people, Carlisle, but Aro would absolutely allow it."

"And now they know about Emily and me," Ryan muttered.

"Yes," Edward continued, "and it's a good thing the guard only saw Emily's shielding abilities and not her other powers. Nonetheless, Aro will be very interested in you now – or at least Emily."

"He is," I confirmed, recalling the numerous futures where either Aro himself came to investigate or he sent out one of his guard. "He won't stick to a decision – probably assuming Alice will see it – but he definitely wants to meet me, among other things."

This would come to a confrontation, I was positive. Aro wanted me as part of his guard – I knew this without even having met the vampire. I am a serial killer who doesn't exactly play nicely taking orders from someone. It may sound a bit cliché, but one of us was going to be dead in the not-so-distant future, and it was most definitely _not_ going to be me.

But the situation is even more complex than that. For the first time since I was a child, I have more attachments than just my brother. I actually care about these golden-eyed vampires. The old me would have let Esme die – would have watched my brother kill her before taking him away from the fight. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if the old me would have teamed up with Victoria, just to make sure I was on the same side as Ryan.

"And now the Volturi will be coming after _us_," Rosalie hissed. "All because we had to affiliate ourselves with a _mutant_!"

"Rose…" Emmet started softly.

"No, I don't mind," I cut Emmet off. "She's right, anyway. They don't know about the rest of my abilities, but eventually Aro is going to come knocking on your door to find me."

"There would be no need for that," Jasper said. "Demetri would be able to track you down anywhere you would go. There would be no need for the guard to come after us if you left."

"But she took my…gift, right?" Bella questioned. Jasper looked to her in question. "I mean, mental powers don't work on me and he tracks through the mind, right?"

"That's right," Carlisle nodded to Bella, "but we would never ask you to face the Volturi by yourself, Emily." Of course he wouldn't. Not even at the cost of his own family would he leave Ryan and me out to dry.

"I think the best we can do is have Alice and Emily watch out for any decisions Aro makes." Edward said.

"That's kind of a horrible plan when Aro knows how to get around Alice's power," I said, cocking my eyebrow at him.

"There's not much else we can do," Edward sighed, leaning into Bella's side.

Not _we_, but _I_ would be finding something else to do about Aro in the far future. I made no plans of this, of course, for Alice would see that. But fighting vampires was extremely challenging. In all my years of conquest after conquest, not a single one of my victims had ever wounded me. In my first real fight with vampires I was bitten and nearly turned into one.

Was that the answer, then? Become a vampire to fight vampires? No. It would be too easy to just inject myself with venom; there's no sense of accomplishment there at all. But I could not reliably go on killing vampires without eventually being killed. It was inevitable. My body needed an upgrade – I needed to break out of the consistency that HLV2 provided me and move on to bigger and brighter things. My ability whirred inside my head as I schemed away.

* * *

"You never did tell me how you got caught by those vampires," I said to Ryan from twenty feet in the air. We were catching up in the woods a few miles out from the mansion. Ryan was trying his hand at flying, but could only manage to hover a few meters off the ground before he lost equilibrium and crashed.

"I don't really remember a lot," Ryan shrugged, knocking off some of the forest off his shoulder. He jumped up into a tree so that he was as high up as me. "I think it was Riley…but he moved so _fast_. I think I put up a fight, though. He tried to feed on me – that I remember – and I knocked him off. Humans can't really do that." He shook his head.

"So they decided you'd make a better soldier than a meal?"

Ryan shrugged in response, breaking off a branch and crumbling it in his fingers. "I guess."

"Why didn't you come to me? Why didn't you let me know you were alive, Ryan?" This was the part that didn't make sense. He was a newborn, sure, but he could have used a cell phone off of a human he killed to call me.

"I was afraid," Ryan whispered. _Afraid I'd hurt you._

"Hurt me?" I questioned. "Ryan, I can take care of myself. I thought for sure you were dead!"

"So could I!" Ryan threw up his hands, shifting on his perch. "I wasn't as strong as you were, but…they were able to take me so _fast_. I felt the bloodlust – killed two people without even understanding what I was doing. You would have come for me if I had called…and I didn't want you dead, Emily." Sadness, self loathing, desperation.

"My shield would have protected me, Ryan. We would have been OK."

"Yeah, I figured as much when Bree came back from hunting looking like she saw a ghost," he smirked at me, visualizing what happened that night.

_I was still thirsty, even though I'd just fed…murdered. I closed my eyes and tried to tune out – tried to escape from this hell. Several of the others were playing video games, but I didn't bother with them. Suddenly, I was shaken from my state by a door crashing open and frantic breathing. Diego ran over to the girl who had emerged from the stairs – Bree was her name._

_"Bree, what's going on?" Diego asked, moving them to the far wall of the basement. Most of the others turned away and back to their distractions, waiting for the chance to feed again. My throat burned at the thought._

_"It was a…a girl," Bree stuttered out, taking a deep breath and holding her hands over her heart. "A human. I was hunting and the next thing I know she…she _stabbed_ me!" My ears perked up at that and I turned in their direction to watch. Bree rubbed her apparent wound and stared at Diego._

_"A human stabbed you?" he questioned, sounding completely unconvinced._

"None of them believed her, of course," Ryan explained. "But I knew right away it was you and that damn knife of yours. I had no idea it could cut through our skin, though."

"What can I say," I shrugged, "Divinium beats everything."

"I'm glad it's over," Ryan smiled, looking into the horizon.

"Speak for yourself," I murmured. "You should go hunt, Ryan; I can feel your thirst, you know."

"Yeah, yeah," Ryan replied, leaping out of the tree. "See you later." I waved him off as he rocketed away. Deciding to call it a night, I flew off in the direction of the mansion.

* * *

**End Notes:** So there you go, a reason why Bree wasn't with the newborn army. She was a _little_ scared of what Emily did to her and bolted long before the fight.


	16. Legendary

**-Chapter 16: Legendary-**

_I was pretty sure I was dreaming. That was strange in and of itself. When I sleep, I never dream; my mind slips into darkness and I reawake to a new day. But there was no denying my surroundings. I was currently sitting outside the courthouse in the small town of Union, Missouri – it is the county seat in Franklin County and only about fifteen minutes outside my hometown. My grandparents used to live here in town._

_If my sudden shift in locations wasn't a dead giveaway to my lucid state, the completely barren town would be. There were no cars anywhere – no people. Block by block down the grid-like structure of the town revealed not a soul. I glanced at the sky – cloudy and raining; as if I hadn't gotten enough of this weather in the real world. The rain was another clue. While it sounded like rain and gave the road and windows of the businesses surrounding me a glossy sheen, it was not wet. I ran my fingers over the bench I sat on – completely dry hands, and yet I was practically sitting in a puddle._

_"Hello!" I shouted, standing up and jogging to the sidewalk._

_"What are you doing in here?" I spun around in surprise, my hand going for my knife – it wasn't there!_

_My jaw dropped. Standing in front of me was Lexi, my roommate – my first kill. She looked exactly the way she did on her last day alive; light brown hair and a tanned complexion – although the shade of her skin looked much lighter than it did back then. Her eyes, though, were frightening. Instead of the dull forest-green they usually were, they were a metallic silver – there were no eye whites or pupil, just a solid gleaming silver that made her look like someone had shoved ball bearings in her eye sockets._

_"Lexi?" I questioned, almost hypnotized by her stoic stare._

_"Emily," she smiled at me, but it was nothing like her old chipper self. She looked tired and worn out._

_"Why exactly am I dreaming of you here, in Union?" She started toward me slowly but said nothing. When she was two feet in front of me she looked up at me and extended her hand. I hesitantly grasped it – then dropped it just as fast._

_Maybe it was because I was dreaming, but up until that point I hadn't realized my powers were missing. No thoughts or emotions came off her, I could not see her future, and I knew I would not be able to detect her lies. But as soon as she grasped my hand everything changed – and yet it was all so familiar. Suddenly the rain gave off a blue glow as it hit down on the pavement, and I could taste each drop on my tongue. Synesthesia. When I dropped her hand the world around me changed back to normal._

_"You're in your own head," Lexi said._

_I wasn't sure what to think, honestly. I was _pretty_ sure this was just a dream, but from what I experienced with Lexi, it seemed like I was actually _inside_ my own ability pool. I shook my head. That was just impossible; this is just a crazy lucid dream._

_"Are there others here, too?" I asked the silver-eyed girl. She nodded, and pointed to the small gym across the street on the corner. I waved and walked across the street to the darkened business._

_The door was unlocked and the lights came on at the flip of a switch. It was your standard exercise room – treadmills, aerobic equipment, and weight lifting machines lined the mirrored walls. There didn't appear to be anyone here after all. Slowly, I made my way to the back of the open room to another large mirror attached to a sliding door._

_I took a few steps and halted completely. Staring back at me, where my reflection should have been, was an extremely pale man with long black hair. He was dressed in a long black cloak and I knew his name instantly, though I'd never met him – Aro, of the Volturi, mimicked my every move. My hand – his hand – darted to my eyes. I was familiar with vampires at this point, but Aro's eyes were something else._

_They were not red. They were black – but not the black of a darkened iris from thirst. They were black all the way through, like Lexi's glossy silver ones. His empty black holes stared back at me and I took a step back – the mirror image did not; it smiled._

_With a grin plastered on its face, the Aro reflection took a step forward – the mirror surface rippled and bent like liquid mercury. He stepped through the mirror like walking through a waterfall and crossed his arms over his chest. The mirror behind him formed back into a solid state, reflecting the actual room again._

_"You can't run from what we are, Emily," Aro whispered. He raised his left hand and I lifted off the floor, my toes almost able to graze its surface. He advanced on me until he was barely a foot away. His face tilted up to look at me and I stared on in horror as his face shimmered away into another face. My face._

_It was me – and yet it wasn't. Those same endless black pits for eyes stared at me hungrily. She raised her right hand, which held my knife, above her head. The tip of it was dripping what appeared to be liquid silver. Without another word from her or scream from me, the knife was driven into my heart._

_"It is inevitable," the other Emily whispered. I choked, spitting up blood – no, silver? A bone-deep chill ran through my body and the world faded into black._

_"Emily?"_

_"…alright?"_

_"Wake up, Emily!"_

"Emily!" I jolted up, breathing hard, to find my brother standing over my bed with a worried expression on his face.

_Is she alright? Jesus, she was screaming and thrashing…_

"I'm OK," I told Ryan, wiping the sweat from my forehead and sitting up. The alarm read 5:30 – much too soon for me to get up on a usual day. But, I knew I would never get back to sleep, so I reluctantly pulled back the covers and swung my feet onto the floor. "Just a bad dream."

* * *

"So how are we going to do this?" Jacob asked, wheeling Billy up to the Cullen mansion.

"Carlisle set up a room for us to use," I explained as Jacob lifted his father out of the wheelchair and carried him up the steps. "He has all the medical equipment I could need for the procedure."

"Procedure," Ryan scoffed. "You're not even a doctor."

"Come on," I said, ignoring my brother, "Let's get set up and get you walking, Billy."

A few hours after I had woken up from my nightmare I decided to call up Jacob and tell him it was time for me to fix his father's nerve damage. Carlisle was excited to see me work my magic; so far nothing he or any other doctor could do would have helped. Ryan was skeptical – the only times he had heard of me opening someone up was when I was pulling abilities out of brains. Jacob was concerned – at first he refused to have the procedure done here, surrounded by 'leeches.' I convinced him by threatening not to do it at all. Obviously he caved.

"Will it hurt?" Billy asked, laying face down on the surgery table with his shirt off.

"Yes." I responded. Fear and panic surged in him, though his outside did not betray his emotions. "I can't put you out; I'll need you awake to provide feedback as I go along." He nodded, his thoughts revealed his determination to go through with this.

Truth be told, repairing the nerve damage was easy with Ryan's ability coupled with mine. It was easy enough to repair the individual nerves and make the connections flow again. The hard part was finding the damage – that was also the most painful part. Thanks to Jane's generous donation, I could 'ping' Billy's brain by focusing her gift through his legs instead of on his body as a whole. The phantom pain would lose connectivity at a certain point along the path, and I would go in and fuse the damaged parts back together.

"Ahh!" Billy let out a scream. He had been doing so well at keeping them contained. I had gone through most of his spinal cord already and the pain from Jane's gift got stronger each time I used it. Billy breathed deeply and steeled himself again.

"Almost done, Billy." I said.

_Thank God…_ Jacob thought from downstairs.

I pushed the pain on Billy again and found the last disconnect. I quickly repaired the damaged nerve and took a step back from the table. It was quite an interesting site to behold. While I didn't use a knife or other instrument, and while Billy had no open wound, tiny patches of his skin was red and bruised. They would heal with time.

_Amazing._ Carlisle thought, catching a twitch of Billy's toe. I smirked at my work.

"You're all done, Mr. Black," I said it a mock doctor voice, flipping over a clipboard that had been lying on a table. "Let's see how we did."

I lifted Bella's shield from my mind and mentally asked Edward to let Jacob know he could come up. I helped Billy sit up on the table, his legs dangling off. Jacob walked through the doorway with anticipation and hope shining through.

"Can you wiggle your toes?" Carlisle asked, seemingly taking over now that my job was finished.

Billy's eyebrows scrunched as he concentrated. The toes on each foot scrunched and relaxed, then wiggled slightly.

"Dad!" Jacob exclaimed, moving closer after seeing the evidence of my awesome work. "Can he walk?" His question was aimed at me.

"I wouldn't let him walk on his own just yet," I suggested, pointing out the large bruises on his back. "With a walker or with help, sure; but give it a week or two before expecting him to walk on his own. Repairing the damage took a lot out of him."

"Thank you." Billy breathed, tears pooling under his eyes. Joy and wonder hit me from both Jacob and Billy, and I found myself smiling along with them.

"You're welcome," I said with a nod. "The rest is up to you, though. I didn't fix your diabetes, so keep that in check or you could find yourself in a wheelchair again."

"I will," Billy said, lifting his legs slightly.

"You'll also have to come up with a story for the miraculous recovery," I noted. "Or continue to use the wheelchair in public."

"We'll think of something," Jacob said. He moved toward me and grabbed me up in a hug. Thankfully I heard what he was thinking of doing before he moved, or else he might be the one with nerve damage. "Thank you so much."

"A deal's a deal," I said as he released me.

"We won't forget this," Billy said as Jacob supported most of his weight. He was excited to be on his feet as they moved downstairs and back to their car.

I knew they wouldn't.


	17. Epilogue

**-Epilogue-**

Bella's wedding was beautiful. I don't use that word often and am _more_ than aware that 'bella' is Italian for 'beautiful,' but it really was a nice ceremony. Alice did most of the planning, of course, but the rest of us did get roped into helping out with the heavy lifting – I got drafted into taste testing the 'human food.'

It wasn't without a few problems, though. Most importantly – at least to me – was that Alice practically fought me into a dress for the wedding. I wasn't a bridesmaid or any other important figure who stood up with Bella and Edward, but those bastards actually got me into a dress. I don't really know that much about them to be honest, except it was extremely uncomfortable to walk around in, hand absolutely no place to holster my knife, and was blue. Those bastards.

The other most important issue was my brother. Ryan did very well, or so I'm told, around Bella and me for short periods of time; but putting him around the large group of human guests for over an hour was just asking for disaster. He was frustrated with himself, but I convinced him to head out on an extended hunt during the duration of the wedding events.

Jacob had also gone away, except no one knew where he was – well, the wolves had an idea because of their hive mind, but no one knew _exactly_ where. I guess he just couldn't stomach the fact that Bella was marrying a vampire and would become one himself. But even if Jacob wasn't here, Billy showed up – walking – with Sue Clearwater and her son, Seth. The official story was that he went to a specialist in Seattle for his nerve damage and got really lucky during the surgery. A complete recovery of the use of his legs.

I was pulled out of my reminiscing by Jacob's thoughts. Wait, Jacob? Oh, he decided to turn up after all. Edward took his new wife over to talk with the wayward werewolf under the guise of a surprise wedding gift. I smirked; Bella would be ecstatic to see her best friend.

Moving over to the food table, I helped myself to a few small sandwiches and a cup of punch. Wine was available, of course, but I've never been one for alcohol – it dulls the senses too much for my taste. Suddenly, I was hit with absolute rage from the direction Bella disappeared to.

_He'll kill her! NO! I won't allow…_

Oh, so Jacob was pissed at the whole 'real honeymoon' thing before she was changed into a vampire. Understandable, but I doubt Mr. Self Control would ever hurt Bella. The thoughts of the vampires nearby revealed they, too, were listening in on the argument. The relief in the room was heavy when Jacob got dragged away by his pack. I let out a breath and winced, bringing a hand up and over my heart. The spot was still a little sore.

After I had performed my miracle surgery on Billy, Carlisle caved and promised me samples on anything I would need in regards to vampires. Though I didn't catch any thoughts directly confirming my theory, I was pretty sure Carlisle was worried I would use the venom samples to turn myself into a vampire. Maybe if I were Bella, but if I really wanted to be a vampire I could just hold one down and extract the venom myself.

Carlisle also supplied me with a lot of money – like two-point-five million. I used Alice's ability to double it within a month, then bought a small company in Seattle with access to a laboratory as well as all the chemicals I could ever need. Esme was disappointed that I spent less and less time at the mansion, but I was in my 'creative zone' and my ability demanded that I understand vampire physiology. The vamily understood – see what I did there? I combined vampire with family.

The company – Brock Labs – was kind of amazing. Along with the chemicals, it contained state-of-the-art lab equipment as well as its own small medical wing. Over the years I had resorted to breaking into college labs to do my experiments, which was a huge hassle and was often limited in regards to the time I could spend there. The facility here was home to many scientists and chemists who were already working on various projects independently – and I had a master key.

I made sure to make use of the medical wing for my latest project. Of course, no one else was aware of my self-experimentation. They couldn't; not with Aro's mind reading ability. Alice knew I had surgery, and she knew I killed the surgeon after the procedure; but she did not know what it was for. She hadn't asked, and I would not tell. My thoughts were once again interrupted, this time by Carlisle.

"Emily," he called. "I'd like to introduce you to our cousins, the Denali coven."

"My name is Eleazar," an olive skinned vampire introduced himself. "And this is my mate, Carmen." He gestured to a Spanish woman to his side.

"Nice to meet you," I said, inclining my head.

"Oh my," Eleazar said," She is quite the anomalía." _Why can't I read her?_

"Mental shield," I supplied.

"But I…" _A mind reader as well?_

I smirked and nodded once in response.

_Aro would be very interested in a human such as you._

* * *

The two succubae sisters that attended the wedding also introduced themselves to me. Tanya and Kate were their names. Irena didn't attend, as she was still upset at the Cullens for letting the Quileute wolves live after they killed her mate, Laurent. As far as I could tell, none of the Cullens let their cousins know about my true abilities. They assumed I was simply a telepath with a mental shield – I wasn't about to correct them.

The time soon came for the newlyweds to head off to the airport for their honeymoon. Edward hadn't told Bella where they were going, but of course I plucked it from his head. He was taking her to a tropical island near Rio called Isle Esme – an actual island actually owned by fucking Esme. I didn't even know that was legal to own an island for yourself.

The two lovebirds dodged – or tried to dodge – the rice as they ducked into the car. Emmet and I had some fun aiming at Edward's head with the flying rice; if he had been human they would have embedded themselves in his face. They drove off and that was that – they were off to their island getaway. I shook my head, focusing on not spying on the nighttime activities they had planned for each other as I made my way through the crowd to my room to change out of this monstrosity of a dress.

"Unfrigginbelievable," I muttered.

**-end-**

* * *

**-What We're All About-**

We haven't quite hit the 30,000 word mark yet, so I figured I'd put a little extra at the end to both fill that space and answer some questions none of you have been asking.

Emily's Ability Pool (as of Epilogue)

_Intuitive Aptitude_ – Original ability. Emily immediately understands the structure, mechanics, physics, etc. of any physical phenomenon, mental construct, or object she encounters. It manifests as a severe sense of envy or obsession, not completely unlike a vampire's drive to feed at the sight or smell of blood. Through differences in the brain maps of her victims, Emily can pinpoint the cause of a meta-human's special abilities and then apply them to her own brain.

_Telekinesis_ – Manipulation of physical objects through mental direction. This is Emily's most-used power (aside from her original one). With it, she can lift, arrange, manipulate, and throw anything from single cells to entire buildings. The range of this ability is restricted to those objects Emily can see or otherwise detect, though the distance is limited within 1-2 miles at most. Emily's dexterity is several times that of her brother, and as such can fly and perform delicate surgery with the ability.

_Synesthesia_ – The linking of the five senses. Emily experiences sensations of all five senses though she may only perceive one. She can literally taste colors or see musical chords.

_Eidetic Memory_ – Total recall of all memories and events experienced in perfect clarity (ie: photographic memory). Similar to vampiric memory, Emily has the capability to remember everything she has ever seen or experienced. This ability extends to memories she experienced before acquiring it.

_Force Shield_ – Protection from physical attacks. Emily's shield protects her from any and all significantly large objects. While she can shrug off bullets or direct blows from a vampire, the shield will not protect Emily from vampiric/meta-human abilities. It will do nothing against elements and compounds in their gaseous form (air, poison gas, etc.) or extreme temperatures. She can stretch this shield away from herself to protect others.

_Lie Detection_ – Detects deceit in the minds of others. This is a mental ability and is useless against Bella's mental shield. When someone says something that is not truthful to Emily, a shiver or jolt-like sensation will go down her spine.

_Telepathy_ – Identical to Edward Cullen's ability.

_Precognition_ – Identical to Alice Cullen's ability.

_Mental Shield_ – Identical to Bella Swan's potential ability.

_Pathokinesis_ – Identical to Jasper Hale's ability.

_Illusionary Pain_– Identical to Jane Volturi's ability.

Emily's Physical Abilities (as of Epilogue)

_Accelerated Mental Processing_ – Synthetic (HLV). Emily's brain is capable of processing data roughly 1.15 times that of a vampire. Her mental processes are limited to one line of thought, however (as opposed to a vampire's ability to multitask several lines of thought).

_Superhuman Strength_ – Synthetic (HLV2). Emily is capable of pressing approximately 900 lbs.

_Healing Factor_ – Synthetic (HLV/HLV2). Emily heals all wounds at approximately 40 times normal speed (20 times with HLV). This ability also grants Emily agelessness, halting all aging at the maximum physical age of her body (~19).

_Knife_– Composed entirely of Divinium. The metal cannot be broken down, damaged, or altered, except by another object composed of Divinium.

Q&A

_Did you get the idea for Emily's ability from Heroes?_

Yes, I did. Sylar had the same ability (mostly) in the show _Heroes_. I was a huge fan of Sylar, but I wanted to apply his ability to my own character. Emily's stolen abilities cannot be shut off, however. She keeps what she steals.

_What about the knife?_

The knife design was kind of a mix between _Supernatural_ and _X-Men_. Divinium is basically Adamantium. I thought about having a knife like Ruby had in _Supernatural_, but decided against it. While it would be cool to have a knife that could kill anything, it would quickly become overpowered. I settled for a knife that could cut through anything, but would still not _kill _everything.

_What does HLV stand for?_

HLV = Hyper Lethal Vector. I'm a Halo fan.

_Will Emily be mated to/imprinted on blah blah blah?_

Immovable Object is not a romance story. It is an action/fantasy/adventure. Emily is a _sociopath_ and a _serial killer_. She's getting better at being a human being since meeting the Cullens, I'll admit, but it would be completely out of character for her to fall in love. If it does happen, it will be because the story needs it to happen to move forward, not because it's expected of me to write.

_So there will be a sequel?_

Yes. I don't give a damn about how few reviews I have (although getting them is awesome). This story came to me in two parts and by God it will be done!


	18. Ryan: Like a Poison

**Beginning note:** This extra mini-chapter takes place (obviously) somewhere in the sequel and is from Ryan's point of view.

* * *

**-Ryan: Like a Poison-**

For the first time in my life as a vampire, I found it difficult to breathe.

I stood amongst my substitute family in the open field, my head bowed. It was dreary today, not one spot of sunshine, and the wind whipped fiercely in the open space. I was dressed nicely – a suit, if you can believe it – and the combative air currents pressed my shirt and jacket to my chest before tugging it forward.

The entire Quileute tribe was here as well – at least those who were in on the secret. The shape-shifter's stench assaulted my nose but I didn't flinch away this time. It was a relief, almost a mercy that anything at all could distract me from my bipolar, stubborn thoughts.

Edward was speaking now, but I could not focus on anything he had to say. I know I should; I know _I_ should be the one to be giving the speech. But I just couldn't. What would I say? I glanced over at Jasper, who was visibly hunched over from the intense emotions from everyone. Alice curled an arm around him and I breathed in a deep breath, letting it out with a shudder. I had to get a handle on my emotions.

Little Renesme had tears streaking down her face as she held both Jacob's and Bella's hand, and I had to turn away. Esme's nearly-silent sobs were muffled by Carlisle's shoulder; they were clutching each other for dear life. Emmet and Rosalie were more stoic than the rest of us – Rosalie's empty gaze wasn't immediately recognizable as grief, but it was there in her eyes. Emmet blinked rapidly but stood silently and held his wife's hand.

It was hard for anyone to imagine – me especially – that someone like her could be taken away. I suppose as the younger sibling I had always looked up to my sister, though I did not always do as she did. She was my hero, my team-mate; we relied on each other for everything and now she was gone. Just like that. No goodbye, no last words; just a body.

I tightened my grip the handle of my sister's knife and clenched my jaw. They would _pay_ for this; if it was the very last thing I did, I would destroy them all. But especially _him_. I would take my time with that monster – I would carve him with this knife. It would be poetic, but I don't think I would care.

Billy Black walked forward to give his speech after Edward was finished. "Emily Ambrose was a great friend to me and to the Quileute people," he paused and wiped a tear that fell down his wrinkled cheek. "She did something for me that I thought would be impossible – she gave me back my legs – and I could never repay her for that.

"But the impossible never applied to Emily, from what I have seen. I doubt any other person would have gone to the lengths she had for her family – for her brother. She was fiercely loyal and one hell of a fighter; and I am thankful I knew her in the brief time I spent with her."

My eyes fell to the disturbed plot of dirt that would be Emily's final resting place. I took another deep breath, attempting to douse my rage and slip into numbness. Anything to be rid of the rollercoaster ride of my spiraling emotions.

I stepped forward and kneeled down next to the tombstone. I had to let it all out now. I knew I would never fully heal from this, but I had to try. My dry sobs shook my body and I was thankful that Jasper let me feel this. The sounds and scents around me faded into nothingness as I looked on at all that was left of my best friend and sister.

_Emily Mara Ambrose_

_November 1, 1951 – July 7, 2007_

_Daughter, sister, friend._

* * *

**End ****notes:** _Unstoppable Force_ will be posted sometime in early November. It will be the conclusion to this story arc.


End file.
